Occupational Hazards
by MysteryWriter2187
Summary: Modern AU. Astrid "Deadly Nadder" Hofferson is the reigning champion of BMCA (Berk Mixed Combat Assocation) and nothing matters more to her than keeping up her late uncle's reputation in the sport. Her commitments become complicated when she begins a relationship with an old friend, and Astrid wonders if she's truly capable of finding happiness and a purpose outside of the ring.
1. Prologue

**A.N: It'll be a while before I post the rest of this, since I'm currently having to juggle commitments with my other stories as well as schoolwork and revising for exams, but I've decided to put this first chapter out early to ensure that I do eventually commit to finishing it. From Chapter 2 onward updates should be coming as often as possible (most likely once a week at the latest). Future chapters will also be longer than this first chapter since it's only a prologue.**

**This story is Rated T for some use of language, implied sexual scenes (though there won't be anything graphic) and occasional bloody fights.**

* * *

_Ugh, man... note to self_, Hiccup pondered in agony. _Next time Astrid wants you to meet her in the park and help her with an algebra question, say no._

**_"Ow! Oh gods!"_**

_"Tap! Tap out now!"_

**_"Alright-alright-alright!"_**

Rapidly tapping his hand on the patio floor his face was being pressed against, he wheezed as she finally released him. Astrid was clearly proud of her work, brushing her bangs out of her face as she took her best friend's hand and pulled him to his feet. There were a few light patches of dust on his shirt from when he was on the ground, and she giggled as she tried to brush it off with her hands before he slapped her hands away and did it himself.

"Ugh... well." He was shaking his right arm as he straightened his glasses with his left. "At least you didn't do this to my writing hand."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Astrid chuckled, taking her braid off her shoulder so it was hanging behind her back again. "So, you wanna round two?"

"No! I didn't even want a round one!" he whined back.

"What? Didn't you have fun?"

He shot a glare at her with a brow raised, though that familiar Hiccup grin was still on his face. "Astrid, tell me one hundred percent honestly. What could _possibly_ have been fun about you pinning me down while twisting my arm from behind my back?"

He groaned as he lifted up his sleeve, going wide-eyed as he got a look at the faint red spot where she'd been clenching his arm. "Ugh... this better die down before my mom sees it!"

_"Pfft..."_ she scoffed. "Just say it was Snotlout. Then I can kick his ass for you."

"Oh yeah, that's reassuring. Gods... you could have broken my arm!"

"I wasn't gonna break your arm, Hiccup, don't be a drama queen. Uncle Finn never breaks them. Well, he breaks them _emotionally_, but that's their fault."

"Because your Uncle Finn's a pro, Astrid... you're not. Alright, wait til you're the next _B-A-R-F_ champ."

She knew by the tone of voice alone that he was only kidding about calling it that, but Astrid still looked a little bitter as she corrected him. "_BMCA_. Not _BARF_, _BMCA_."

"Pah, can't we just call it what it is? Discount _WWE_." Hiccup immediately had both hands up in surrender and redacted his statement, stuttering out **"relax, I'm kidding... jeez."**

"Good, because for your information, Hiccup Haddock, _BMCA_ is not Discount _WWE_. Hel, I'd say _WWE_ is more like Discount _BMCA_. Because it's awesome."

"Bunch of costumed stunt men doing glorified ballet dances that morons like Snotlout think is real fighting? Sure, sounds great."

"Alright, I'm gonna correct you again. _WWE_ is staged. _BMCA_ isn't. Stylised? Sure, but not scripted."

Hiccup scoffed carelessly as he looked at his arm again. "Still don't know why anyone would wanna do it for a living."

Astrid looked offended again. "Uh... _**I**_ wanna do it for a living."

_"Wait, what?!"_

"Yeah. I've pretty much decided." She crossed her arms confidently. "After we graduate, I'm not going to college, Hiccup. I'm gonna have Uncle Finn mentor me and become _BMCA_ champ, just like him."

"Oh gods, I should never have made that joke... uh... Astrid, who else have you told about this?"

"Just you."

_"Aw man..."_

"Oh, come on, Hiccup. What's the big deal? I'm a fighter, and I love doing it. And Uncle Finn loves doing it."

"Because your Uncle Finn gets _paid_ to do it, Astrid. Look, maybe... alright, that's at least three years away, so you're _definitely_ gonna change your mind, right."

"Hmm... _maybe_, but probably not..." she gave him the usual light punch on the shoulder, though in hindsight she realised that hitting the right one wasn't that good an idea.

**"Ow! Ugh... can we please just do that Thor-forsaken algebra question already?!"**

"Ha ha... yeah, sure." Astrid picked up their backpacks and threw Hiccup's to him, the momentum nearly causing him to fall back. "You're watching Uncle Finn's fight on Saturday night though, right?"

"Oh yeah, sure... uh, which generic masked villain is Fearless Finn fighting this month?"

"Oswald the Antagonistic." Astrid had her arms on her hips with a smug grin on her face. "Fishlegs is conflicted, obviously, but old Ozzy's an overrated pushover. Uncle Finn's gonna win easy, trust me."

* * *

**Five Years Later - Berk Mixed Combat Association - Recruitment Tryouts And Interviews**

_"Alright, just so I know which file I'm looking for, you're gonna have to tell me your name and physical attributes."_

"Oh, uh... okay, sure, my um... my name is Astrid Hofferson. I'm twenty years old, 112 pounds and uh... well, last I checked I was 5 foot nine, give or take."

_"Ah, here we are... right then, hmm... Hofferson, eh? As in... Fearless Finn Hofferson?"_

"Ha ha, yeah... he's my... well, uh... he uh, he _was_ my uncle."

_"Well, I must say, Astrid, that I'm very impressed. Now, you're going to need some kind of stage name for merchandising purposes, so... how does Fearless Astrid Hofferson sound to you?"_

"Um... well, it... um, I guess it's a little, uh... generic, I guess? See, I've already got a nickname in mind, if that's okay with you."

_"Ah, excellent. And what nickname is that?"_

"Well I was kinda thinking. The _**Deadly Nadder**_."

_"Hmm... alright, then. Deadly Nadder it is."_


	2. Enemies

**Six Months Later - Sports Entertainment News**

**_"Tonight on Sports Entertainment News, the newbies at BMCA are already making headlines! We got reports saying Ruffnut Thorston, one half of the Zippleback Twins, and current champion Astrid Hofferson, AKA the Deadly Nadder, have been released from police custody following an altercation the pair got into at the Food Court of New Berk Shopping Mall last night. Thanks to Tuffnut Thorston, we have exclusive footage of the incident that led to their arrest..."_**

* * *

**One Day Ago - TNTAKAZippleBack1 - _"LOL! Ruff whooped some Nadder ass in Pizza Hut 2Day! #Beatdown."_**

_The other people waiting in line at the Pizza Hut were all dumbfounded by the sight of Astrid and Ruffnut trading progressively more visceral verbal insults at one another. The two had been at this ever since the twins tried to cut ahead of her in the line, and what started out as a quarrel about that had now devolved into a bubbling, hate-filled argument regarding their careers with BMCA._

_**"The fuck are you talking about?! You really are a stupid bitch if you think people see you as better than me and Tuff!"**_

_Astrid scoffed almost with a laugh. **"Are you kidding? Nobody takes you or your brother seriously! Your entrance theme is the Hampsterdance Song, for Thor's sake! You're a fucking embarrassment to this sport, Ruff!"**_

_**"Ha! Hypocrite much? Look, you might think you're all that, Astrid, but you're not! You're an arrogant, talentless little whore! And everybody knows it, too! It's just you're such a cunt that everybody's always pussyfooting around you because you have such a temper!"** As Ruffnut said this she prodded Astrid's chest with her finger, almost as if she were intentionally trying to provoke her. **"Hel, the only reason BMCA even took you on is cause your Fearless Finn's niece, and he's dead anyway!"**_

**_"That does it!"_**

_Ruffnut staggered back as Astrid swatted her across the face with the back of her hand. Astrid grabbed one of Ruffnut's braids and pulled hard on it as Ruffnut grabbed her shirt and dragged her down to the floor with her. They were both grunting, yelping and screaming as they rolled on the floor kicking and punching one another while the security guards and Tuffnut attempted to break them apart, though Tuffnut still kept his phone out to record the fight._

_Eventually they managed to split them apart, though there was clearly some damage done to them both. Astrid had a torn sleeve, a split lip and a bruise under her left eye, while Ruffnut had red strain marks on her neck where Astrid's hands had been, a bloody nose and she was missing a couple teeth. Astrid had her hands raised indicating that she'd calmed down, prompting the two guards restraining her to loosen their grip as Tuffnut tried to lead his sister away._

_**"Yeah, you better give up, coward!"** Ruffnut called back mockingly. **"Would hate for you to end up like your Uncle Finn!"**_

_**"Why, you little... RRRAAAGGGHHH!"** Astrid forced the two guards off of herself and darted towards the twins, jumping up to drop-kick Ruffnut in the backside. Ruffnut grunted as she fell forwards, ploughing through a table in the restaurant as the people sitting at it got up and moved away. Realising what she'd just done, Astrid tried to run from the guards but ended up tripping over Ruffnut's still lifted leg, causing her to yelp as she clattered down and landed on top of Ruffnut as they both grunted._

_They immediately resumed trading blows as Astrid grabbed one of the chairs they'd knocked over and clobbered Ruffnut over the back with it. Neither relented their assault even as the guards restrained them both and took them away._

* * *

**_"The Nadder apparently has a history with the twins and has reportedly butted heads with them ever since Kindergarten. If I had to make an educated guess, BMCA are definitely going to try cashing in on this in the near future!"_**

* * *

**One Week Later...**

The first-year high school reunion wasn't nearly as fun as the movies made it out to be, at least as far as Astrid was concerned. She was just sitting at one of the tables in the corner, watching as the twins danced and laughed with everyone else. Predictably, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were both taking full advantage of the attention last week's incident had gotten them, being the half-witted glory hounds that they were, while Astrid herself had been trying to avoid it as much as she could.

They were currently laughing and drinking with Snotlout Jorgenson, which only made her groan even louder. They always made fun of her for loving BMCA so much, but the second she told them that she was signing he and the twins had immediately signed afterwards in a half-assed attempt to steal her thunder. Needless to say, it was a joy to beat Snotlout senseless once he and her had been scheduled against one another for their first fight. But she knew from the second she signed that she would never get in the ring with either of the twins, especially after what had happened.

She'd almost considered not coming here at all, but had convinced herself that Hiccup would need someone to hang out with, just like when they were kids. As it turned out, he wasn't here either, not that she'd have known that since they hadn't kept in touch since he went to university. But she wished he was there, more than anything right now, just because everyone that even tried to approach her tonight was going to be asking about the incident.

"Astrid! Hey, Astrid!" a familiar high-pitched voice got her attention, prompting Astrid to look up with a wide grin.

_"Oh hey, you made it!"_ she got to her feet and hugged her old friend. If Hiccup were her best friend in school, Fishlegs was probably second best. He was such a gentle soul for his size, and while he and Astrid never saw eye-to-eye when it came to BMCA he always appreciated and encouraged her talent for it. And she was certain he'd always had a secret affection for it considering his long-term lady-friend.

As she thought of this, Astrid's smile shrunk a bit and she tried not to let out a scoff as she noticed who was standing behind him. This girl hadn't gone to Berk High as evidenced by the GUEST lanyard she was wearing, but she was still all too familiar and for good reason. Fishlegs realised this, clearing his throat as he said _"oh, uh... you remember my girlfriend Heather, right Astrid?"_

How could she forget? Heather the Unhinged was her nickname, last time Astrid checked. She was only a recent addition to the BMCA lineup, having signed with them a few months after Astrid, Snotlout and the twins had, and she'd made quite a first impression when she beat Snotlout so bad that he was crying less than a minute into their fight.

Astrid had analysed Heather's profile online, especially her Instagram. She loved animals it seemed, since she followed most if not all of the animal rescue organisations with the exception of PETA and had been approached to film PSAs for most of these organisations as well. Other than that and occasionally announcing a fight, she was just a normal girl with her social media.

Astrid was still silently looking her up and down her while neither Heather or Fishlegs noticed. Twenty and about 112 pounds like herself, Heather had long, jet black hair that she'd put into several braids. Their builds were similar as well, lithe yet stronger than they looked, though Astrid couldn't help but feel that Heather had been gifted with a few more curves than her, not helped by the fact that every piece of clothing Heather seemed to own was distractedly tight-figured and had at least a bit of midriff or cleavage, if not both like the green sweatshirt she currently had on was.

She also happened to be the daughter of another BMCA legend, and her older brother was a marine who was currently serving. Whenever they'd met in the past neither of them mentioned it, but Astrid always felt their families had been sort of intrinsically linked by the tragedy that befell her Uncle Finn, and she was certain Heather felt the same. Nevertheless, she had a grin on her face as she extended a hand for Heather to shake, which the latter gladly took.

"How could I not remember who she is, Fishlegs?" She tried to laugh this off. "As if I'm gonna forget the daughter of Oswald the Antagonistic..."

_"Agreeable."_ Heather suddenly cut in as she let Astrid's hand go, still trying to sound friendly but letting in a hint of a stern tone. "It's Oswald the _Agreeable_."

"Oh, sure... if you say so."

"Well yeah, I mean... it's not your fault at all, Astrid, I mean..." Heather took a deep breath for a minute, letting her smile come back before she continued. "Look, dad just didn't wanna be remembered for what happened, so... I'm sorry, I'm just making things awkward..."

"Oh no... no, of course, I... I understand fully. My mistake..."

* * *

Fishlegs had been trapped in a conversation with Ruffnut, so Heather and Astrid were sitting next to one another at the same table with a nearly 24-inch gap between them. Astrid yawned as Heather cleared her throat in a thinly-veiled attempt to start a conversation, hesitating for a good few moments before finally talking.

"So, um... I was needing to talk to you tonight, Astrid... our schedules at the studio don't always match up, so this was the best chance, but I was thinking... you know, well... ugh..." she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Well we can't just ignore the _Bewilderbeast_ in the room, can we...?"

Astrid raised an eyebrow as she finally turned to face her. _"I don't know what you mean..."_

"Oh come on, Ast, we all remember what happened last time my dad and your... you know..."

_"Hmm..."_ Astrid let out a little grumble as her fist clenched a little. _"Yeah, that."_

"Right, so... I've been reading some of my Instagrams, and there's _a lot_ of comments talking about it. I mean, seriously, some of them get really mean-spirited and... look, I dunno, it's... it's kinda something you and I should probably address..."

_"Address?"_

"Well yeah, cause... cause I feel like we need to clear up public perception about what happened, because well... I just don't want people thinking we hate each other or anything like that, that's all..."

She resisted the urge to laugh at Heather's remark, pushing her golden bangs out of her eyes as she said _"hmm... you know what, Hev, I think you might have a point..."_

"Wait, really?"

_"Well sure... I mean, maybe if we were to do something a little... public, together... prove the naysayers wrong... if you want to, that is..."_

"Are you kidding?! Yes, of course! That'd be fantastic! Wow, yeah. Sure..."

_"Hmm... good."_ Astrid let a little mischievous smirk cross her face. _"I'll get on the phone with Sven tomorrow, see if we could work something out..."_

"Oh, thank gods... because, to be honest, I was expecting this idea to go _a lot_ worse, but..." Heather cleared her throat again to stop herself from gushing with excitement as she clumsily got to her feet. "Just thank you, Astrid, so much... this is just so great, and... and I think it's definitely the best way to put the past behind us..."

_"Oh you have no idea, sweetie..."_ Astrid muttered slyly under her breath as she relaxed back on her seat, watching as Heather straightened up and walked back over to rescue Fishlegs from the twins. _"You have no idea..."_


	3. Bitterness

**Two Weeks Later - Monday Night BMCA Championship Live**

Once the artists were done applying the blue and yellow flame-patterns to her forehead and cheeks, Astrid finished putting the final touches on her costume. Her BMCA outfit was simple enough, a sleeveless blue shirt with black leggings, furred boots, a red spiked skirt and silver shoulder pads with skull-shaped buttons. And to top it off, a blue, scale-patterned helmet with a retractable flip-down face-mask. The helmet resembled her mythical namesake, with a beak-like point on the chinstrap and pointy yellow horns sticking out of the back of it.

She remembered when she made one that looked just like this, albeit out of messily painted and scribbled paper mache since she was only six at the time, and showed it to her Uncle Finn. He gave a hearty laugh at the sight of it, yet his huge hands were so gentle with it as he proudly placed it on her head.

* * *

**_"There y'are... just like a champ, you are..."_**

_"Oh... oh hey Uncle Finn, I should wear this when I'm fighting in the ring with you! Ha ha!"_

**_"Oh-ho, oh no you don't, Astrid. That's not a battle for you, love... well, not yet, anyway."_**

* * *

_"You're up, boss."_ Sven poked his head through the door to say this and immediately left straight after, Astrid nodding confidently as she said "uh, yeah... you got it... thanks..."

She looked at the photo on her table, one that her mother had taken of Astrid wearing her paper mache helmet with Uncle Finn holding over his head. She couldn't cry at this, since the makeup artists had clearly put a lot of work into her face, but she still got a little choked up as she gently rubbed her thumb over the glass frame.

_"Don't worry, Uncle Finn..."_ she whispered softly. _"We're getting back at them tonight..."_

Putting the picture back in her back, she cleared her throat and finished braiding her hair, picking up her helmet and tucking it under her arm as she headed out of the dressing room.

* * *

**_"We are in for a show tonight, ladies and gentlemen. Almost six years after the tragic fight between Fearless Finn and Oswald The Agreeable, their successors in the BMCA have decided to settle the score. Heather The Unhinged takes on The Deadly Nadder in tonight's main event."_**

* * *

Heather stood on one corner of the ring, looking nervously around at the crowd in the arena as she tossed her helmet casually from hand to hand. Her outfit was a black vest with a V-neck and tight green sleeves that went to her elbows, and her helmet was silver with black wing shapes on either side that resembled traditional elf ears.

There was a bad feeling in her stomach, the same anxiety that had been eating her from the inside the first time she ever auditioned. She wasn't sure why she felt it now since she'd grown a lot more confident in herself and her abilities since them, though she supposed it had to be the fact that she was in the ring with someone she looked up to who happened to be the current champion. And surprisingly, she was about to be fighting _against_ that current champion.

As soon as she found out about this Heather had been hesitant to ask about this, but if she had a last chance to do so, it was now. So she cleared her throat and walked over the corner of the ring where Astrid was stretching. She was a little put off when Astrid looked at her and rolled her eyes, but tried to remain positive as she said _"so... uh... ha-ha, this is your idea of doing something public, huh?"_

Astrid shrugged apathetically. "Well, what more do you want? It's public, isn't it?"

_"Well yeah, but... look, Ast, this isn't exactly what I had in mind..."_

"Oh really... and what did you have in mind?"

_"Well I dunno, okay, I... I was thinking more of a tag-team sort of thing... because I kinda feel like having us go one-on-one like this doesn't send a very good impression."_

Astrid scoffed to herself as she put her helmet on but left the faceplate up, moving her braid off of her shoulder so it was hanging behind her back. Heather fondled her own braid nervously as she said _"you know what I mean though, right... I guess I didn't want people thinking there was any bitterness or anything."_

"Oh, bitterness? You mean like **THIS?!**"

_**"Oof!"**_ Heather grunted and fell to her knees after Astrid buried her fist in her stomach, staggering back til she reached the opposite end of the ring. It was at this point when Heather began to process what was actually going on here.

"Maybe you haven't realised yet, but I'm not here for amends..." Astrid spat venomously as she pulled down her faceplate. "I'm here for _revenge_."

_"Wait, you... you tricked me, you... shit!"_ Heather quickly scrambled to her feet and put her own helmet on, closing the faceplate as the bell went.

_**DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!**_

**"RRRAAAGGGHHH!**" Astrid darted forwards with her fist raised, Heather going wide-eyed as she narrowly shot out of the way of the strike. Astrid found herself running into the ring post Heather had been standing, before turning to see Heather running quickly to the other side so they essentially switched places.

Not being deterred by this, Astrid charged again as Heather dodged out of the way again, only this time shooting her foot backwards so it went into Heather's stomach. Heather wheezed as the kick knocked the wind out of her, not being able to defend herself as Astrid spun back around and sent a kneecap into her face.

**CRACK!**

_"Oof!"_ Heather stumbled backwards and landed on the canvas, shaking her head as she used the ropes to pull herself back to her feet. The blow had made a crack in her mask that went from the eye to the forehead, and her braid was becoming undone and messy. Astrid was standing at the other end, patronisingly bending her hand in a beckoning gesture. There was definitely a smile under the mask, and it was definitely the most smug, arrogant grin she could pull.

_"You... you want me to be the bad guy?"_ Heather snarled with a surprising amount of venom in her voice as she straightened her mask again. _"Fine... **I'm** the bad guy..."_

Astrid balled her fist as Heather launched herself off the ropes and ran towards her. She swung her whole arm horizontally for a clothesline but went wide-eyed as Heather narrowly ducked and slid under her legs.

**"HE-YAH!"** With one hand flat on the floor Heather spun herself so her leg could kick Astrid's foot from behind. Astrid yelped as she fell back, landing flat on the canvas as Heather rolled away from her. As Astrid got back to her feet, Heather took the opportunity to jump off of Astrid's kneecaps and backflip off of them to trap her neck in a head-scissor, swivelling herself downwards so that Astrid was launched upside-down to the other side of the ring.

**"Ugh!"** Astrid grunted as she hit the corner post hard, her helmet falling off of her head to expose her face again. Heather felt a burst of pride as the crowd was now cheering for her for the first time since the fight started, and decided to take full advantage of the positive attention.

She went over to another corner post and climbed up it, standing on the middle rope with a fist raised as the crowd continued whooping and hollering.

**"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Whoo! Yeah! Ugh... AAGH!"**

She barely had time to react when Astrid suddenly grabbed her braid from behind, pulling it hard to yank Heather off the post so that she slammed back-first against the canvas. Heather managed to recover quickly enough to catch Astrid's fist as the latter tried to shoot it into her face, grabbing Astrid's other wrist as she managed to get back on her feet.

The two stood struggling like this for a few moments, before Astrid kicked Heather's left shin so that she ended up on one knee. _"Agh..."_

**CRACK!**

There were many groans from the audience as Astrid sent her fist directly into Heather's face. Blood flew from Heather's mouth and nose as she fell back from the punch, her mask shattering off of her face as she landed hard face-first on the canvas.

"I... I'm not... I'm not letting you fuck me over on this..." Astrid panted out as she brushed her hair out of her eyes, reaching for Heather's braid again and using it to yank her back up. She then wrapped the braid around Heather's neck and pulled tight on it, Heather wheezing out as she had one hand on the top of her head and the other over her throat.

_"No... no, don't... ugh... get... get..."_ Heather's face was going red and she was finding it harder and harder to breathe as Astrid tightened her grip.

_**"Get... off... of... me!"**_

Heather finally snapped, stamping on Astrid's foot as the latter grunted in response. Heather forced herself out of Astrid's grip and sent her arms back as she did so, but went wide-eyed as she felt her elbow directly connect with something that made a loud, sickening **_CRUNCH!_**

_**"Ugh! Son of a bitch!"**_

The crowd were audibly whooping and shouting as Heather found herself on her knees again, gasping for breath with her throat finally free. She turned around to see Astrid stumbling back against the rope, cursing and muttering furiously. She was clutching her face with both hands as blood gushed and spurted between her fingers onto the floor, while Heather was able to deduce what happened when she noticed some of that blood dripping down from her own elbow.

"_Shit..."_

Astrid was glaring at Heather with eyes like a venomous, rage-filled snake as she released her face, showing that the bridge of her still profusely-bleeding nose was bent at an angle that it was _definitely_ not supposed to be bent at.

_"Oh gods..."_ Heather chuckled nervously as she took a few steps back, eventually feeling her back touch the corner ring post. _"I am so, so sorry, Astrid, it... it was an accident, I swear I didn't... aw man..."_

_**"HUUURRRAAAGGGHHH!"**_

She tried to run but it was too late. Astrid gripped the back of Heather's neck with one hand and clenched her other hand over her opponent's nose and mouth. Heather was struggling to breathe and was pulling and slapping her hands frantically to try and escape or tap out, but this only made Astrid tighten her grip.

**_SLAM!_**

Astrid released her neck and pushed her back with her hand still on Heather's nose, causing Heather to fall and hit the canvas hard on her back. Heather was groaning as she tried to force herself back up, clutching her face and trying not to cry through the pain she was in.

The blood from Astrid's nose was still spewing out and getting sprayed all over the ring and on Astrid's face and outfit, so she knew she couldn't drag this out much longer. Grabbing Heather's wrist and leg, Astrid dragged her slowly over to the centre of the ring, letting her lie there almost lifelessly as she went over the corner post and climbed up on top of it.

Her feet balanced on either of the two ropes connected to the post, and she bent her knees and took a deep breath. The _Madguts Moonsault_, named after the same BMCA fighter who first used it, had become her signature finisher and she usually saved that move for last. A broken nose wasn't going to stop her from pleasing her public, so she snorted a bit to keep much more blood from coming out as she readied herself.

_**"HURRAAAGH!"**_ she flipped backwards off the corner post, splashing down hard on Heather's stomach with an echoing **WHAM!**

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause as Astrid lay over Heather's midsection and she lifted her leg up as the referee counted. _"One, two, three!"_

**_DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!_**

**"Yes! Ha-ha!"** Astrid let go of Heather's leg and shot back up, carelessly letting her elbow go right into Heather's chest as she did so. She stood in the centre of the ring with one fist raised for the crowd to cheer while she used her other hand to hold her broken nose, hollering out as the crowd hollered back.

_**"The winner by pinfall, and still BMCA champion, The Deadly Nadder!"**_

The crowd was still cheering at first, only to gasp into an almost deathly silence as Astrid suddenly turned back around and sent her foot hard into Heather's stomach. Heather wheezed out as this happened, lying in a fetal position with her hand over her midsection.

_"If you ever get in this ring with me again, bitch, I'll finish what your old man started! **Ha-ack... ptoo!**"_

Even those that had expected the stomach kick were shocked when Astrid spat, Heather covering her face with her hands to stop it from getting on her. Astrid wiped her lips with her finger to get rid of the last few drops of saliva, but merely scoffed at the sight of Heather as she finally stopped holding back tears. _"Pft... pussy..."_

Heather barely managed to get onto her hands and knees as she used one of the bottom ropes of the ring to help herself up, while Astrid proudly picked up her discarded helmet and tucked it under her arm as she flicked her hair out of her still bloody face and exited the arena.


	4. Reunion

**The Next Morning...**

"Well-well-well, look who's he... _oh gods_, look at the state of you. To be honest, I was hoping you'd notice my perfume today Astrid, but I doubt you'll be smelling proper for a while, a ha ha..."

_"Yeah-yeah, whatever... just hurry up and fix it..."_ Astrid snapped in a muffled tone through the clump of tissues she was holding over her nose. She walked over to the operating table and lay back on it as she peeled off the blood-soaked tissues, rolling her eyes as the nurse shut the door and she went to her desk for a few utensils to operate with.

Valka always had a snarky comment to make every time Astrid came to her for treatment, but she was also one of the most efficient in the business and Astrid wouldn't trust anyone else to treat her after a fight, so it was worth any jokes made at her expense.

She was actually a veterinary nurse by trade, but the Haddocks had been friends with the Hoffersons for a long time. So long in fact that Astrid had come to regard Valka and her husband Stoick as a sort of honorary aunt and uncle, especially due to how they'd helped her process her grief after her actual uncle's accident.

Not that being experienced with animals made Valka incapable of treating Astrid's injuries. In fact, as far as Astrid was concerned, she was just animalistic enough to qualify for Valka's treatment, especially with her husband being the one that actually gave Astrid the fighting name that now struck fear into the heart of any poor soul foolish enough to get into a ring with her.

* * *

**_"Aye. She's a deadly wee Nadder, isn't she?"_**

* * *

Astrid chuckled to herself as she thought about this. That little remark had stayed with her since she was ten, the day she decided to make a show at the Larson kid's 7th birthday to exhibit some fighting moves Uncle Finn had taught to her. It seemed Astrid herself was the only one that day who knew this was the life she was going to choose to live, and after Uncle Finn's passing it would be an understatement to say that her parents and their friends, and even Astrid's own friends, weren't exactly jumping with joy when she told them that she'd signed with BMCA and booked her first fight.

Of course, in the seven months that had passed since then, they'd more or less come to accept it. She was sure they were proud of her success, at least a bit, but whenever she brought it up there was always an inherent reluctance to their reactions, as if they still didn't entirely approve of what she was doing with herself.

Valka was by far the most open about her dislike of BMCA, which Astrid presumed was due to the fact that Valka was having to stitch her up and click her dislocated joints back into place once a month. Though in fairness, none of her injuries had been as severe or as messy as this broken nose she had now, with the one exception being when her shoulder blade was torn with a piece of barbed wire during a weapons match against Thuggory The Meathead.

Valka took a cloth from the desk and made sure Astrid was sitting upright on the table with her legs hanging off of it. _"Here... bite down hard now."_

Astrid did as she was told, clenching her teeth over the cloth Valka was putting in her mouth while Valka clenched her fingers on the bridge of her nose. The cloth hadn't been used on anything but it still tasted awful in her mouth, though Astrid had accepted that it could at least help to take her mind away from the pain that was coming.

_"Alright, here we go..."_ Valka clenched Astrid's nose a little tighter and Astrid bit harder on the cloth and dug her nails into the table she was sitting on as Valka began to twist and pull it back to the centre of Astrid's face. **"Hmm! Mimm! Vul... ugh!"**

**_CRUNCH! _**

**"Shit!"** Valka quickly yanked the cloth out of Astrid's mouth and pressed it over her nostrils, both of which were leaking out almost ink-black blood at a rapid pace once the bridge was properly realigned. Astrid had to inhale to keep it from pouring out too quickly as Valka let her lay back down on the table again.

Grabbing a clean cloth from the desk, Valka soaked it under the tap and used it to wipe away the blood that was dried and dripping all over Astrid's mouth and chin, making sure her nose was properly in place before getting out some other utensils so she could bandage it.

_"Right then... just need to get the plastering done up and it'll be back to normal in a couple weeks."_

"Hmm... yeah thanks, Val. You're the best. Ugh..." Astrid winced a bit as the bandages caused a stinging pain on her nose.

"So... apparently you're still undefeated, then..." Valka scoffed, her tone of voice seeming to indicate that she wasn't impressed.

"Yep... still the champ." she nodded. "If you think this is bad, you should see the other girl..."

"Aye, I know... saw the fight..." Valka sighed when she said this, adding the last few touches to her work as she took off her bloodied gloves and walked back over to the desk to get something else. "You know, you really didn't need to spit on her, Astrid..."

"That cunt had it coming." Astrid groaned, pointing to her now fully-bandaged nose as she added "_this_ was a total cheap shot."

"Oh, did her elbow get in the way of your face?" Valka had a brow raised. "The only cheap shot I saw in that fight was you kicking her when you'd already won..."

Astrid opened her mouth to object, but found nothing coming out as she froze with wide-eyes and her mouth hanging open. It took her a moment to think about her rebuttal, before she said "well... who cares, you know, she... ugh... at least the score's all tied up with us."

"Oh aye... she's Oswald's lass, isn't she?" Valka rolled her eyes. "Suddenly makes a lot more sense why you wanted this fight... ugh... Astrid, you have to let that go..."

**"No, fuck that!"** Astrid hardly ever got this angry at Valka, but then again, Valka hardly ever brought up Uncle Finn's accident. "Besides, it was _her_ idea... even if I didn't want to, do you really think she wouldn't have gone to the studio about it?"

"Suppose not..." Valka scoffed, adding one more layer onto Astrid's bandage to finish it off before going to the desk and sitting down to write out a prescription. "But I suppose since you've got your so-called revenge, you don't have anything to prove anymore, do you now?"

Astrid rolled her eyes as Valka swivelled the chair around to face her again with a smug grin on her face.

"Ugh... here we go again..." Astrid had a grin of her own, a snarky, condescending tone in her voice as she said "Val, has it ever occurred to you that maybe I just _enjoy_ this? Hmm? Ever thought about it like that?"

"Aye, I've considered that. Then things like broken noses and torn shoulders tell me otherwise." Valka put the prescription and the small bottle of ibuprofen pills in Astrid's hand. "Take a couple whenever it starts to sting."

"Well it's only fun if you get a scar out of it..." Astrid scoffed as she put the bottle in her pocket, before then putting her hand into her other pocket to fish out a brown envelope. Valka scowled with her hands on her hips as Astrid took out a couple 100 dollar bills, waving them smugly as she said "plus, I'd say _three-thousand per fight_ is a pretty sweet deal..."

"It'd be enough for you to retire by now if a portion of it wasn't going to me every month."

Valka almost considered turning down the payment, but was also fully aware that Astrid would keep pestering her about it and wouldn't leave unless she accepted it. So she opened her hand and let Astrid place the $250 into it, bringing it over to her desk and putting it into a drawer.

_"So... same time next month...?"_ she snarked as Astrid got up, the latter scoffing as she answered with "only if I need you."

_"I'll take that as a most likely, then..."_ they both chuckled as Valka said this, Astrid running over to give her a hug before she left the office.

* * *

The buzzing in her back pocket alerted Astrid to the call as she walked down the hallway, reaching to get it to see who it was. _"Shit."_

She almost considered ignoring it, but knowing Fishlegs he was bound to hang up and call again once it went to voicemail. So she reluctantly answered, putting the phone to her ear and saying "hey Fishlegs... what's up?"

_"Well, uh... Heather's pretty torn up about the fight, Astrid..."_

"Oh, really... she's bitter that she lost, huh?" Astrid scoffed, taking the phone away from her ear and holding it a few centimetres from her face so she could talk right into it. "You can tell that little whore that if she wants a rematch, I can come over there and kick her ass again any time she wants."

_"No. Because she doesn't want a rematch. She doesn't want anything to do with you at all after what you did."_

"Huh... smart girl."

_"Gods, are you really that arrogant, Astrid?!"_

"Hey I won, didn't I?"

_"You humiliated her. You... you baited her into the middle of something she wasn't prepared for just so you could kick the crap out of her in front of everyone. You've done some shady stuff while I've known you, Astrid, but this is cheap even for you."_

"I didn't break _her_ nose."

_"That was an accident and it was your fault! Same as your uncle's, for that matter."_

**"Hey!"** she snapped suddenly, startling a few of the patients and nurses that were passing her in the hallway. **"I have plenty of energy to get over there, you dick! So don't fucking push my buttons!"**

_"Look Astrid, you can be mad about what happened between her dad and your uncle all you want, but leave Heather out of it!"_

**"Alright, fine. I want nothing to do with her either. Oh, and by the way... tell your girlfriend that if she has anything resembling fucking self-respect she'd stop dressing like such a slut!"**

_"What?! She doesn't... she doesn't dress like a..."_

**"Fuck that, she so fucking does! I don't even like her and I'm embarrassed for her every time she dresses with those tight outfits. She looks like a fucking bitch in heat! Probably why you caught onto her so fast..."**

_"Astrid, I'm not just gonna sit here and let you disrespect and hurt Heather anymore than you already have!"_

**"Fuck her! If that little temptress ever gets raped don't say I didn't warn her! And**** if you wanna hook yourself up to that toxic little cocksucker and her cunt family, fuck you too!"**

She hung up and shoved the phone back in her pocket, snapping her head up suddenly as a voice said _**"WATCH OUT!"**_

**"Ugh!"** Astrid grunted as the figure collided into her and they both fell back with him on top. The tall, lanky man quickly scrambled off of her and pulled himself up, offering her his hand which she quickly slapped aside.

**"Watch where you're going, asshole!"**

"Sorry, I tripped, I... I was... I was in a hurry, and you were in the way, and..."

"In the way? Pah! It's not my fault you have two left... _ooh_..." Astrid knew she was going to kick herself later when she looked at the man's lower body and realised he didn't have two left feet. He didn't even have one. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry. I... I didn't mean..."

"It's fine. Really..." the young man hopped over to the small, metal prosthetic on the floor, grabbing it and reattaching it to the stump at the halfway point of his left shin. "Alright, I just... I mean, it was still my fault, cause... cause I shouldn't really be running with this stupid thing anyway. Wait a sec, you're... _Astrid?_ Astrid Hofferson?"

"Uh... yeah, who's asking?" she looked up at the man's face as went wide-eyed. "Oh... Hiccup!"

"Yeah, it's me." he held his hand to her again, but she took it this time and let him pull her to her feet. "You look really different... of course, it might just be the nose."

_"Oh no, I do... and so do you... man, you look great..."_ Astrid hesitated for a moment before firmly putting her hands on Hiccup's shoulders. He seemed a little nervous when she touched him like this, but she kept a smile as she let him go and flattened down her own shirt down after it had been creased by the collision._ "So, what's with the, uh...?"_

"Oh, you mean this... _thing_." he shrugged as he glanced down at the prosthetic. "Yeah, car accident... y'know... _amputated_."

"Shit, yeah, you, uh... that wreck you were in, um... I think I remember your mom telling me about it... ugh... how long ago was it, like two years or..."

"19 months. Yeah."

"Gods... so, how are you holding up? Didn't see you at the reunion... to be honest, I kinda missed having you there..."

"Oh, the uh... the reunion, right, um... yeah... so, I um... shit..." he rubbed the back of his head. "I gotta be honest, I actually kind of forgot about that, cause I've been busy, and... um... anyway, I uh... what about you, huh champ? I... I take it the nose is because of a successful title defence?"

"Hmm, yeah... least you're keeping track of me..."

"Well not really, because... yeah... well you're doing great, from what I can tell. I'm actually doing great too. Graduated, Animal Welfare. Mom told you about my vlogs, right?"

_"Wait, your... your vlogs?"_

"Oh, she didn't... um... okay basically, I work at this foundation that takes care of wild animals and I have this vlog where I film them and stuff... it's kinda stupid, but it's monetised and I love doing it, so... I mean, gods, they have such great animals down there, Astrid... it's called the Hidden World, and by Thor does it live up to that name, ha-ha... I mean, for instance..."

Astrid let out a warm little grin as he passionately started gushing about his favourites at the sanctuary. Being the son of a vet nurse, Hiccup had always been a friend of the beasts, and once you started a conversation about one he'd never stop babbling about all the things he loved about them, even if they weren't even the same species the conversation was initially about. It was one of her favourite things about Hiccup when they were growing up, and aside from the facts that his hair was longer, he'd ditched his big old glasses and he'd miraculously shed his baby fat along with his left foot, she knew he hadn't changed a bit.

"Yeah, so... that's my career..." he finished in an almost ashamed, self-deprecating tone as he put his arms at his side awkwardly. "Obviously, it's not BMCA champion or anything like that, but..."

"Well no, but that sounds really cute. Plus, you always were an animal-lover Hiccup, so... at least we're both doing what we love, right..." as she said this she slowly reached for his hand. He initially hesitated and yanked his hand a little further away from hers, the abruptness of which caught Astrid somewhat off-guard. In a split-second he regretted his action, letting his hand loosen up a bit as Astrid managed to take it and hold it.

"If you don't mind, I... I'd love to look at it... it's not like a paid subscription or anything, is it?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, nothing like that..." he said. "It's just YouTube. Type in _Hidden World Animal Sanctuary_, you'll find my playlist there... pretty easy..."

"Hmm... yeah, okay." Astrid kept her hand clasped over his as they stayed silent for a moment, before Hiccup cleared his throat and pulled his away.

_"I should probably... y'know... go talk to my Mom, cause... that's literally the entire reason I'm here, ha-ha..."_

"Oh, right, sure. Um... it was nice seeing you again, Hiccup."

Astrid noticed Hiccup tense a bit again as she went in for a hug, but after a moment of hesitation she went for it anyway. It took him a few seconds to return it, but he eventually did settle into the embrace as he wrapped his arms around her back and held her a little closer. Astrid probably held onto him for a second longer than she should have done since he was the first one to take his hands away, but she eventually made herself let him go, and they exchanged a smile as Astrid walked out of the hospital while Hiccup went in the opposite direction over to Valka's office.


	5. HicTooth

**Three-And-A-Half Years Earlier**

Astrid had no idea what had possessed her to join the school's Academic Decathlon team. She wasn't dumb like Snotlout and the twins by any means, but she wasn't exactly up to Hiccup or Fishlegs' calibre either, and Fishlegs hadn't even bothered to join. Perhaps it was the free trip to the Mainland for the finals, the chance to see all the icons, sights and monuments there, or maybe it was just the fact that if she hadn't gone she'd have been stuck at home without having Hiccup to talk to for a whole week.

The quarter and semi-finals were simple enough, she just sat at the end of the table right next to Hiccup and let the other students do the talking. There were a few questions she was tempted to try, but whenever she considered it someone else always got there first, and the correct they answer they gave was usually not the one she thought of in her head. She never bullied her smarter, less popular classmates, especially since she was best friends with two of them, but she never thought that she'd feel so intimidated in the presence of so many people that were essentially, for lack of a better word, nerds.

Despite her silence, or perhaps _because_ of it, their team had made it through the semi-final and they were going up against Ugli-Thug High's team in the final. That was only a day away now, and it was sometime past eleven so most of the teachers and supervisors were asleep. With the entire hotel calling it in for the night, the team decided to put on their swimsuits under their clothes and head over to the unoccupied swimming pool.

They had to pass the room Hiccup was staying in as they headed down there, and Astrid froze on the spot as soon as the light in the window caught her eye. She let the others head over to the pool without her as she looked through the window to see Hiccup sitting at the desk. He didn't notice her in the window, and he'd just finished reading one book but immediately went to the next one in the massive pile he'd stacked on the desk.

**_KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!_**_ "Oh, uh... yeah? Who is it?"_

Astrid turned the doorknob and pushed it open a little, poking her head through with a grin on her face. He immediately shot up and nearly dropped his glasses off his face and caused the books to come clattering off of the desk, narrowly stopping them and putting his glasses back on straight as he awkwardly stood tall and cleared his throat.

_"Uh, Ast... Astrid, hey, what's uh... what are you doing up?"_

She crossed her arms as she brought her entire body through the door into the room, pulling down her zipper a little so Hiccup could just spot the cleavage on her blood-red bikini. He was visibly going red in the face as he glanced at it, but forced himself to keep his eyes on her face, and she seemed to have full knowledge of this. "Hmm... well, we were all going swimming. I mean, I kinda... kinda thought you'd be coming with us..."

_"Coming... what like, coming swimming? Pah... no."_ he put his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes, trying to sound casual but letting out a little hint of a sad tone in his voice. _"Nah, I... I really gotta study for tomorrow..."_

"You're serious?"

_"Well, yeah... I mean, biology's my designated topic, so..."_ he sighed a bit as he lay back on his bed, yawning a little as he pulled the pillow up to prop up the back of his head. _"I gotta make sure I know it for everybody else's sake..."_

"So... you're not coming swimming, huh?"

He smirked and shook his head, looking away from her as he grabbed another book and opened it somewhere in the middle. Astrid stayed there in front of the now-closed door, thinking for a few moments about what to say or do. A part of herself was thinking about wishing him luck with his studies, walking out the door and going back to the pool with the others, but it was dominated by the temptation to do something different.

Hiccup looked up in almost-shock from the book as Astrid headed across the room and sat at the foot of the bed a few inches away from his feet. _"Um... hey, what are you, uh..."_

She remained casual, an almost-flirty smirk on her face as she shuffled up the bed towards him. Hiccup's reddened face now went nearly ghost-white and he almost seemed to shrink like a dying flower as he shuffled to the left side of the bed, and it was hard to tell whether he was just giving her room to lay next to him or for some reason trying to keep his distance from her.

"Figured you could use a study buddy..." she chuckled a little as she rested her head on his shoulder, putting her hand over his so she could get a better look at the book he was reading. "So... _Origin Of Species_, huh?"

_"Uh-huh.."_ he shrugged, his voice being noticeably more high-pitched than normal, so he cleared his throat so that it got back to normal. _"So... what is your actual job to do as my study buddy, exactly?"_

"Hmm, well... you got your alarm set up..." she shuffled herself a little closer to him and put her left leg over his right as she moved her head a little closer to his neck, letting his chin rest on her golden hair. "Why don't you just read it to me til I fall asleep?"

_"Pft... did you seriously just call me boring?"_

"Let's just see..." she reached a hand behind his back as she closed her eyes. "I'm still awake, by the way..."

_"Right... sure..."_ he cleared his throat and looked at the text. _"Ah-hem, so uh... hmm... thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."_

He kept reading out loud even after Astrid had finally fallen asleep and was softly snoring under her breath, letting out a little smile at her as he noticed this before continuing with his studying. After he finished this book, he managed to pry himself out of her embrace without waking her up, putting some pillows on the spare bed for himself and leaving her sleeping on the bed that had actually been prepared for him.

* * *

**Present - Astrid's Apartment, 11:00pm**

"Alright... alright-alright-alright... what did he say it was called again? Um... oh yeah..."

**_Search:_ **hidden wotld animal sanctuay

"Ah shit."

**_Did You Mean?: _**hidden _world_ animal _sanctuary_

"Yeah-yeah, whatever..."

**_First Result, Channel: _**_The Hidden World Animal Sanctuary, Northwest Berk_

"Hmm... looks about right..."

**_Latest video, 17 Hours Ago: _**_Big Cats Meet Little Dogs (HicTooth Diaries #193)_

"HicTooth?" Astrid was wearing a T-shirt and lounge pants as she sat on her bed, laying her head back flat on the pillow just to make sure that no blood started dribbling out of her nose. It shouldn't have done since Valka had bandaged her nose to the point where she could barely speak properly, but it was just a precaution, better safe than sorry.

Her iPad case was folded into it's standing position so she could see the screen from where her head was. She'd assumed due to the _Hic_ in the name that _HicTooth Diaries_ was the vlog Hiccup was telling her about. So she clicked on the video, sniffling a bit while the screen loaded and it started buffering for a few seconds.

* * *

**Big Cats Meet Little Dogs (HicTooth Diaries #193)**

_The video started with a blue bucket in a sunny patio, a blue bucket filled with small, chubby little bulldogs. __The camera panned up from them to show a green fence a few feet away which separated the patio from a jungle-like enclosure where a large Bengal tiger was pacing back and forth staring at the bucket. It let out a roar at the sight of them, not an angry or powerful roar like you'd hear in movies like The Jungle Book or The Lion King, but a gentler, almost confused little roar._

_**"Okay guys... so today, we decided to bring Meatlug's puppies outside."** a nasally voice that was obviously Hiccup's said, since he was clearly the one holding the camera here as it panned back to the bulldogs. **"Just getting them used to the sun since they're gonna be running around this part of the enclosure a lot when they're all grown up... well, I say that and they're not even out of their little bucket yet, ha ha..."**_

_The tiger roared again as the camera panned back up to show it still standing there with it's eyes locked on the puppies. **"Hmm... Hookfang's seen them. He's very confused, he's like... hey, Hiccup, I got one question for ya... what are those?!"**_

* * *

_"Gods..."_ Astrid rolled her eyes as she heard this. Yep. Same old Hiccup. At least referencing something a good few years after it was popular was still very much a weakness for him.

* * *

_**"Ha ha... ugh, sorry, that's uh... that's a dead meme, just... just forget it..."** The camera was brought closer to the tiger as Hiccup walked up to the fence, gently putting his fingers through the links to pet the beast on the nose. The tiger let out a sound that sounded like a horse snorting, and Hiccup responded by letting out a similar noise with his mouth. **"It's okay, boy... everything's okay... nothing to be afraid of..."**_

_The camera turned away from Hookfang and went back over to the bucket, Hiccup's right hand coming into frame as he picked up the fattest one of the puppies and lifted it out of the bucket. The hand held up the whimpering little one for the camera to focus on as Hiccup continued talking._

**_"So as you can probably tell by where the sun is right now, feeding time's in like fifteen minutes... we were arguing all day about when to introduce these little guys to Toothless and the others... I for one was thinking doing it after they'd eaten, but we eventually decided that if I show them the puppies first and then feed them after, they'll hopefully realise that the puppies aren't for them to eat... guess we'll see, huh...?"_**

_He turned around and the camera showed Hookfang still standing at the corner of his enclosure as Hiccup brought the puppy over. He held it just a few inches away from the fence, letting Hookfang take a few seconds to sniff and investigate the little bulldog. It started making the snorting nose again, which Hiccup chuckled at before making the same sound in return._

**_"Aw... he's chuffing at her, so that's good."_**

* * *

_"Hmm..."_ Astrid's brow raised a bit as he said this. She vaguely remembered him going on about this chuffing sound during one of his rants. Tigers couldn't purr, and neither could snow leopards, so chuffing was apparently a form of communication, a happy sound or a form of saying hello. The tiger was making this to Hiccup a lot throughout the video as well and he was making them back just as much, so there seemed to be a lot of trust and affection between them.

* * *

_Hiccup pulled the puppy back a bit from the fence as a lower, more guttural growl was heard, panning the camera to the right to show that there was actually another section of the fence that was separated from Hookfang's enclosure. There was a sleek, black shadow standing at this edge of the fence, with the only visible colour being the piercing emerald eyes. The panther growled again with a yawn as it's mouth opened, letting the camera focus on the small teeth in it's gums, as well as it's distinct lack of large fangs._

_Hiccup's hand reached through the fence and patted the leopard gently on the face as it purred at him. **"Aw... morning, bud. You wanna see the puppies too, Toothless?"**_

* * *

Toothless? Well, that at least explained where the name _HicTooth Diaries_ came from. He may have loved his animals, but it seemed Hiccup wasn't that good when it came to naming things. Nevertheless, the video was amusing and, dare she say it, cute. It went on for another ten minutes or so as Hiccup brought each puppy over for Toothless and Hookfang to look at, and the two big cats were clearly getting more and more excited with each one they saw.

* * *

**_"Well... that's all the puppies introduced to the big fellas, so it's probably time they finally get something to eat... so I uh... I guess that's it for today's video, guys. I'll see you tomorrow and uh... and have a good day... see ya..."_**

* * *

As the video ended, Astrid scoffed with a bit of a chuckle as she exited the YouTube app and switched off the iPad, grabbing her alarm clock off the desk and setting it for herself to wake up for the next morning.

She hadn't thought of YouTube vlogger or essentially a zookeeper as the time of profession he'd have pursued, but it was good to see that Hiccup was doing something he was so passionate about. If anything, it just made her feel even more regretful that she hadn't managed to keep in touch with him after he'd left. Then again, he hadn't made any attempt to keep contact with her either, so it seemed that she at least wasn't entirely to blame for him acting like a stranger when they just happened to crash into one another in the hospital.

_"Hmm... what happened between us, Hiccup..."_ she sighed to herself as she put the iPad down and lay back on her pillow, yawning slightly as she switched off the lamp next to her. The question still ravenously swirled around her thoughts as she closed her eyes and went to sleep. _"What happened?"_


	6. Flashback

**Two-And-A-Half Years Earlier**

Gustav Larson was always a slimy little shit as far as Astrid was concerned, but she had to give him this, he could throw a pretty great party. His mother was out of town for a conference at the weekend and the fifteen year-old decided to try getting his chance in with the older kids at the school, since their graduation was only a couple weeks away. Reasonably big suburban house, swimming pool, drinks brought by the eighteen year-olds such as herself, all valuable items covered and hidden in locked cupboards, and a couple of buckets for possible vomit in every room. What could go wrong?

As it turned out, quite a bit could have gone wrong, and quite a bit did. She'd been hanging out with Ruffnut on the patio next to the pool for most of the night, since at this point she and the twins had still been on something that resembled good terms and were, dare she say it, friends, and they were having a really good time taking shots of the tequila that Ruffnut had brought.

Hiccup was there too, and Astrid still remembered everything about him on that night. He was quietly dressed with his usual hair and glasses, just wearing a sleeveless brown vest over a green long-sleeved shirt, some tidy blue jeans and brown boots with fur lining. He was holding a plastic red cup just like in the movies, and she remembered hearing him earlier, discreetly asking Gustav if they just had orange or apple juice that looked like the alcoholic drinks everyone else was having.

But that was when the argument started. Ruff had a little too much to drink and said something about Hiccup looking, in her words, _"very fuckable tonight"_ and how she was thinking about taking him upstairs and going to town on him. Astrid, who had the same amount to drink that Ruff had, told her to back off and leave Hiccup be. It was playful at first with some friendly little shoves and even a few laughs between them, but then it stopped being a joke by the time Astrid threw her drink in Ruff's face and Ruff responded by delivering a fist to Astrid's stomach. The blow was a shock to her at first, but she managed to retaliate with a kick to Ruff's crotch before shoving her into the pool, an act which subsequently inspired most of the other drunk partygoers to dive in as well.

It was probably for the best that Astrid was so utterly smashed here, because if she were sober Hiccup wouldn't have been able to hold her back and prevent her from attacking Ruffnut any further. He and Gustav agreed that Astrid had probably had enough for one night, so it was up to Hiccup to take her back home.

Her house was only a few blocks away, and she luckily wasn't drunk enough for Hiccup to have to constantly hold her up or carry her or anything like that, and the cold yet nice air of the beautiful starry night was helping to keep them both awake and sort of alert. She had her right arm linked affectionately with his left as he walked her up the empty drive to her front door. The hallway light was on and could be seen through the frosted window on the door, a habit Mr and Mrs Hofferson utilised to make it look like there was still someone in the house as to discourage possible burglars, but no one was actually home at the moment.

"May I see your room key, ma'am..." he held out a hand to her dramatically like a butler, Astrid smirking in response as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her small set of keys. She put them in his hand and folded his fingers around them, letting Hiccup unlock the door so he could open it and let her into the house.

Her parents were currently in Barcelona for their anniversary, so she was also going to have the Hofferson house to herself for the weekend. Hiccup gently closed the door behind him as he followed Astrid to her kitchen. Technically his job for tonight should have been done, but he just wanted to make sure she went to bed safely and since the kitchen was full of sharp, blunt and hot things, that wasn't exactly guaranteed.

_"Gods..." _she muttered with a voice that slurred a bit thanks to her inebriation._ "It sure is hot in here tonight, huh?"_

He stood in the doorway of the kitchen as Astrid opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of Heineken. She held one up for him, but when he shook his head she simply scoffed as she put that one back. She popped open the cap on the other one and drank from it, walking behind the four-chaired kitchen table and taking off her blue jacket as she put it on the back of one of the chairs.

She looked right at him with a seemingly innocent, airheaded grin on her face and leaned forwards onto the table with one hand, using the other to pull her red shirt down a bit to try giving herself some cleavage. Hiccup tried to smile back but was finding it incredibly difficult.

"So, uh... I take it this is goodnight, then..."

_"Well, maybe..."_ Astrid pretended to think as she took another swig of her drink and walked back from the table towards him again. She had a hand on his chest and seemed to be intentionally pressing her own against him, her grin shrinking into a more knowing and mischievous little smirk. _"But you know... my parents aren't here right now, and I'm an only child... it'd be nice to spend the night, uh... hanging out... with a very dear, very good-looking friend..."_

"Oh yeah, ha ha...?" Hiccup tried to sound snarky, though his tone of voice was still nervous and awkward as he walked backwards out of the kitchen and into the living room, but Astrid still kept herself attached to his shirt. "And who might that be, then?"

**_"Ha... YOU, SILLY!"_** Astrid accidentally shouted, struggling to hold in laughter as she clumsily shoved Hiccup back so that he landed hard on the couch behind him.

"Astrid... Astrid, what are you doi-**OOF!**" Hiccup wheezed as Astrid clumsily jumped onto his lap, accidentally knocking the wind out of him as she landed directly on his crotch. Her legs were unintentionally trapping his hands so he couldn't stop her from taking his glasses off of him and putting them on herself. His vision instantly blurred and he felt more trapped, even more so as Astrid cupped his face with one hand and playfully pinched his nose with the other.

"_Hiccup... you've got a really, really uh... really cute face..." _her speech was starting to slur again as she gently patted the side of his cheek._ "Your freckles, and your little... cute little button nose... right here..."_

He tensed his eyes as she prodded his nose with her index finger, giggling like a toddler as she made honking and booping noises herself.**_ "Beep-beep, haha!"_**

"Astrid, can you please stop touching my n..."

_"You know... when Ruff was being a little bitch and trying to make a move on you tonight, I was gonna kick her ass for you... and I was gonna do it, too, because nobody messes with my number one best friend, right?"_

"Huh..." Hiccup smirked a bit as she said this. "I guess not."

_"But, funny thing is... I actually realised that she was totally right about you..."_

"Aw, well, that's... wait, _right__?_" Hiccup went wide-eyed as she said this, before Astrid put her hands on his shoulders and leaned her head towards his ear. She was going for a whisper, but her intoxication was obviously causing her hearing to be impaired so she instead just sounded like she had a sore, grating throat.

_"You do look really fuckable tonight..."_

"Oh great Odin's ghost..." Hiccup was trying to shuffle out of the chair and escape, but since she still had her hands on his shoulder they were currently stuck together.

_"Oh come ON, Hiccup... we're both young, attractive people. I'm a girl, you're a boy, and that's why-you know what, just forget this, I have no idea what I'm talking about... come here..."_ Astrid laughed out, before she grabbed a still wide-eyed Hiccup's shirt and dragged his lips towards hers. Hiccup tried to speak as Astrid clumsily and messily kissed him, grabbing her by the shoulders and trying to push her back.

"Uh... Ast... Astrid... hey, uh... can we, uh... not do th... Astrid... I... I don't wa... Astrid... Astrid!"

But she kept advancing, nearly causing Hiccup to fall out of the chair as she put her forehead against his. _"Come on, beast boy... don't act like you don't want this too..."_

**"HEY!"** Hiccup yelled as he deflected her hand before it could reach his privates and finally managed to push her back. After a few seconds, he realised that his hands were directly on her still covered breasts and let go of her, timidly but firmly saying **"Astrid, I'm sorry, but... no, actually I'm not sorry. I'm drawing the line at that!"**

_"Oh, what? Like... you're rejecting me?"_ Astrid asked in a sarcastic tone, pretending to pout like a child while struggling not to laugh. _"If you're worried about my parents coming home we could always use my bed..."_

"What, no! No, I'm... ugh... look, Astrid, I'm sorry but, I'm not doing this with you! Not when you're... you're all like this... that's not my type of thing."

_"Pft... not your type of thing? Well I know you love animals... so why don't you try to tame this pus... ugh.__.."_ Astrid briefly stopped talking as she felt her stomach and belched softly. She gulped, before swishing her hair back as she tried to look sexy despite her dizziness, saying _"am I not hot enough for you?"_

"What? No... Astrid, I... I think you're beautiful. And smart, and funny... and... and perfect..." Hiccup said, trailing off a bit in slight embarrassment as a few shades of red faded onto his cheeks. "But... you're just... you're drunk, okay? I'm not doing this when you're acting all weird... so let's just get you to bed, okay...?"

_"PAH! I'm not weird, Hiccup... you're weird! Ha ha ha HAAA HA HA!"_ Astrid laughed in an excruciatingly high-pitched tone that caused Hiccup to tense with one eye shut as he heard it. _"I dunno WHAT you're talking about being weird, Hiccup, because I feel absolutely... uh-oh... **BLERRRRRGH**!"_

* * *

It was Monday lunchtime when Hiccup went into the cafeteria, seeing Astrid waiting for him at the table in the back corner. She waved happily to him and he waved back as he walked over to her. "Afternoon, milady... what's a girl like you doing in a place like this, huh?"

_"Dude. I thought I told you to stop with the dead references."_ she tried to sound sarcastically stern as she said this, but they both burst into giggles as he sat down next to her. She was back to her usual self for the most part, but she still had messy hair and heavy bags under her eyes from all the drinking at the party.

"So... how are you feeling after the whole... incident...?" he said this with a brow raised, but it took Astrid a few seconds to realise what he meant.

_"Oh... oh, you meant Friday night... when... when I threw up, right?"_

"Yeah." he sighed with a laugh, before she looked down at his jeans with some wide eyes.

_"Ooh... so it all washed out, huh?"_

"Well, yeah. I mean... I knew it would." he grinned. "If it took the stain off the couch, then my jeans weren't gonna be a problem either."

_"Yeah... gotta admit. When it went on the couch I almost had a damn heart attack..."_ she exhaled. _"But words cannot describe how glad I am that it washed out... I really owe you one, Hiccup..."_

"Eh, don't worry about it. Anything for my number one best friend."

_"Aw... come here you..."_ she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug which he returned immediately. "Besides... we all make mistakes, Astrid..."

_"I know, right?"_ she laughed as she separated from him. _"I mean, I know I have a weak stomach for alcohol, but... __gods, my standards are usually way higher than that, you know... still can't believe I could stoop so fucking low..."_

"Wait... stooped? Low?"

_"Yeah... i__f I wasn't pissed out of my mind by all that booze I'd have stopped everything and gone to bed, no questions asked... __really dodged a bullet there, huh?" _Astrid kept laughing and nudged his elbow with her own as she said this, but she didn't notice Hiccup go quiet as his grin shrank a bit. _"I mean, seriously... I'm actually, like, disappointed in myself just for the thought of it... I am genuinely embarrassed just to think that I could have done that."_

"Emba... embarrassed?" his voice got even higher-pitched than it normally was. He would never have done anything to Astrid when she was drunk and he wouldn't expect anything like that from her when she was sober, but he never thought that she'd be embarrassed by him, and she couldn't possibly just be talking about the vomit on the couch. This thought pierced the front of his brain as Astrid simply patted him on the back and he forced himself to smile again at her.

_"Yeah, no joke, I mean..."_ she laughed again. _"Gods, you know, just... just thinking about what I did and what I almost did now just makes me wanna throw up again... ha ha..."_

"Right... right... I um..." he itched the back of his head as he stood up slowly with his satchel in his hands, surprising Astrid as he wiped his cheek and straightened his glasses while looking away from her. "I gotta, you know... get to class, so..."

_"What? Already?"_

"Yeah, yeah cause, um... cause I have to uh... I have to help... someone, with uh... something... see you round..." he cleared his throat and turned away from her, leaving Astrid utterly dumbfounded as he walked out of the caferteria.

_"Huh... what's gotten into him?"_


	7. Diagnosis

**Present - The Hidden World Animal Sanctuary, 9:34am**

Hiccup sighed frantically as he stumbled off of the bus, keeping his hand clutched to the satchel that his papers and cameras were in as he raced across the parking lot to the staff entrance. _"Shit... shit-shit-shit-shit-shit..."_

His encounter with Astrid the day before was still racing through his mind and the thought of what had happened was still eating away at him. She was his childhood best friend, the girl he'd had a crush on ever since they were five, the one who always listened to him and stood up for him when Snotlout or the twins tried to take advantage, and not to mention the current BMCA champion, and he just bashed into her like the same clumsy, socially impaired clown he was in high school.

Because _of course_ he did. When he heard that she'd joined BMCA, Hiccup hadn't even expected to meet Astrid ever again, so this little incident they'd had was probably the worst possible reunion he could have asked for.

The crashing into her was bad enough, not quite as traumatic as his actual accident but probably very close, but of all the things he could have made a comment about her, he made one on her _nose_. Seriously? Granted, he was sure there were much less appropriate assets on her that he could have stared at or talked about, but now the back of his head was ringing with the thought that asking a twenty-one year old about her broken nose could possibly be the equivalent of asking a woman over forty how old she was.

And of anything he could have said about his career, being an animal caretaker and technically an animal rescuer as well, the most impressive feat he could brag about were those stupid vlogs. Sure, he loved doing them and they had a big following, but it wouldn't be anything compared to what an athletic, popular champion she was. Now that he thought about it, he didn't blame Astrid at all for saying she was embarrassed by kissing him that night.

_"Well-well-well... look who's finally up. Five minutes late... not like you at all..."_ a sultry, mischievous voice said as soon as he came in. Usually Hiccup would gladly engage in this early morning banter, but his mind was still fixated on the encounter with Astrid and, as the short messy ball of hair with a face had pointed out, he'd overslept and wasn't the first person there like he normally was.

"Cam, I'm... ugh... I'm not in the mood right now, okay?" he groaned as he passed the girl, letting her scoff in amusement as she immediately followed behind him. _"Alright pal... let's hear it..."_

"Hear what?" he said back as they walked into the pantry where the food for the animals was kept. She remained silent with her hands up calm and casually, signalling him to not get offended by her attempt at a conversation, but he knew her too well to think that she'd leave well enough alone here.

Camicazi Ailith Cairstine Westergaard, Cam or Cami to her good friends, had been an acquaintance of Hiccup's for as long as either of them could remember. She was exactly a head shorter than he was, but that wasn't counting the large, frizzy mop of brownish-gold hair that was as untouched as the Amazonian rainforest. She always wore a navy-blue eye shadow and a blood red lipstick, but her cheeks always had a natural, bright rose tint that accentuated the subtle dusting of freckles on her face, and her lips were more often than not curled into a smug yet also casual and friendly little smirk on her face.

Valka had been good friends for years with Cami's mother, Bertha, and they'd kept in touch even after Bertha moved back to the Bog Burglar mainland with her parents and later got married and started a family there. Hiccup and Cami had first met when she was two and he was two and a quarter, and they'd regularly exchanged letters with one another until they were both about six. Whenever they met during this time Cami made a point to show that she was wearing something that mimicked whatever Hiccup had been wearing during their last meeting, but Hiccup could never figure out if this was meant to be mocking or some form of strange idolisation.

Aside from a few catchups here and there, they hadn't met in person again until they were classmates and later roommates at university. After graduating they'd both gotten their own apartments, but since there was only about five minutes walking distance, Cami would visit whenever she needed to use his microwave, or his bath, or just whenever she felt like it, which was so often that she'd essentially made the spare bedroom in Hiccup's apartment into her own little guest room in case she was too tired to get home.

As he walked here, trying to pick up the pace to make it harder for her to pester him about his lateness, his prosthetic gave way and he tumbled back, Cami shrieking in a panic as she ran to grab him and hoisted him back up before the rest of him could hit the floor. Her snarkiness went away and was replaced by an almost motherly concern as she stood him up and quickly said _"Hic?! Hiccup? Are you okay? You're okay, right? Is it the leg, are you feeling sick? Are..."_

"I'm fine, Cami... really, it... it's okay..." he remained calm and put up both his hands to let her relax, Cami exhaling in relief as she let go of him and he straightened himself up again. He flattened down the creases in his shirt with his hands and brushed his hair out of his eyes, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as he said "thanks though..."

_"Yeah... sure, no problem..."_ Cami still sounded a little more frantic even when her voice was trying to get back to normal, but she calmed down fully as she let Hiccup walk a few steps ahead of her before trailing behind him again.

They went through the hallway that led to the kitchen, which was also the main entrance to the front end of the animals' enclosures. A tall, bespectacled lean woman with short blonde hair noticed them come in, putting on a face that appeared to be concerned as she said _"Hiccup... you're later than usual today... is something wrong?"_

"Seriously Mal? You too?" Hiccup glanced at them both, before groaning as he said "so what if I'm late? Huh... why'd either of you guys care anyway?"

Mala Targaryen was three years older than both Hiccup and Cami, and she'd been working at the sanctuary for eighteen months longer than either of them had. She wasn't necessarily an animal lover but she clearly had great respect for them, and would more often roll her eyes in annoyance than dare to laugh at any of Hiccup's videos. Not that she hated him or them, it just wasn't really her cup of tea.

Working as a technician and caretaker at the sanctuary was mostly a side-job for her, since she was training to be a professional psychiatrist and at this rate was to receive her degree just after her fiancé was meant to return from service with the marines. She'd gotten this job mostly for the experience, since she wanted to widen her knowledge by examining animal behaviour as well as the humans taking care of the animals.

Sometimes she'd have Hiccup or Cami sit down and practice speaking to them as if they were her client, examining their microexpressions to get a better sense of who they were and how they were currently feeling. For a split-second Hiccup had a gut feeling that she was going to take advantage of this current situation, and then she just happened to speak up.

_"Since you look so uneased this morning, Hiccup, I'd like you to sit down so I can diagnose you."_ Mala was trying not to let a laugh or a smirk break through her calm, cold exterior as she made Hiccup take a seat.

"Diagnose me? Really..." he slouched back without a care in the chair as he added "Mal, if this is about the whole therapist in training thing..."

_"It's not. I'm just using the skills I've learned from my psychiatry training to figure out what's making you so worried today."_

Hiccup shot a glare at Cami, who had her arms crossed with her regular smirk on her face as she leaned against the door and let out a sarcastic little wave at him. He then looked back to Mala, saying "Mal... I'm a one-legged asthmatic who takes care of dangerous wild animals... I'm allowed to be a little worried sometimes."

_"Oh yes, of course... but it's clear by the way you scratch at your chin and pretend to not be interested that you're currently thinking about an old memory you usually prefer to not thing about. The way you slouch with your eyes to the floor indicates that the reason you don't want to think about this old memory is because it's very, very embarrassing for you. The way your hair is even messier than usual and the bags under your eyes prove that you didn't sleep last night because of it and the way that you cross your legs and fidget your hands are a clear sign that this is related to someone you were and still are romantically attracted to."_

She straightened her glasses, proudly adding _"so from this, Hiccup Haddock, I deduce that you ran into your old high school crush yesterday, a high school crush who once made a drunken pass at you and who is now a successful celebrity and even more stunning than when you knew her, while you're still an insecure geek doing glorified cat videos at a zoo and you said something really embarrassing to her that just made you look and feel even worse."_

"Hmm..." Hiccup sat up a bit with a brow raised, visibly impressed. "And you got all that just from looking at me, huh?"

_"Pft, not really. Your mum called Cami about it."_ Mala and Cami both burst into hysterical laughter after Mala dropped this bombshell, while Hiccup sat still in the chair with a deadpan, unamused scowl stretched across his face.

"Real cute guys, real cute..." he sighed under his breath as they both managed to calm down a bit, Cami patting him on the shoulder as she said _"aw come on... it's funny... so, do tell... what did you say to the Deadly Nadder that was so embarrassing?"_

"I um... I talked about her nose."

_"Her nose...? Why did you talk about..."_ Cami's eyes went a little wider as it suddenly occurred to her, and she bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from laughing again. _"Oh... oh! Oh, I get it now... ha-ha-ha... oh gods, quite the charmer you are, huh Hiccup?"_

"What? The entire middle section of her face was covered up, how was I supposed to _not_ point it out?!"

Mala then realised what they both talking about as she chipped in with_ "oh... is this is about the thing with Heather?"_

"Wait, Heather?" he looked away from Cami over to Mala with wide eyes. "Dagur's Heather did that to her?"

_"She did indeed..." _Mala seemed almost proud of her future sister-in-law as she said this, but her smirk shrank a little as she rubbed the back of her head._ "Well that being said, she still lost, but she really did a number on Hofferson's face. Elbow went right into it."_

"Jeez..."

Hiccup exhaled and leaned back in the chair while Cami sat on it's armrest with her hand on his shoulder. "See, this is why I don't understand why Astrid was so insistent on doing this with herself... I mean, you know, with... with her uncle, and now this, and... ugh... I dunno..."

Cami shrugged with a smirk, still holding his shoulder as she said _"well... perhaps she just needs a special someone in her life."_

"Strong independent woman needs to be tied down? Yeah, real progressive, Cam... I thought you were a feminist?"

_"What? I am. Besides, you're the one who assumed I was talking about romance."_ she patronisingly pinched his cheek and tugged at like he was an infant, but Hiccup slapped her hand away.

"What? No, I... I didn't assume anything about that... I... ugh... look, whatever, it doesn't matter... we grew apart, people do that all the time. It's nobody's fault or anything like that. I... I barely know her and she barely knows me now, and even when we did she was _embarrassed_ by me... now she'd never even choose to come near me if she was on fire and I had the last bucket of water in the entire archipelago."

He sighed as he thought about this for a moment, before adding "so... no. It's not like in the movies. It was one stupid, awkward, coincidental accident. If I'd known I was gonna see her at all yesterday I'd have at least tried to do something not stupid, but I didn't know, and I did something stupid. Boom. Done. Finished. _Finito_. End of story."

Their heads and ears all pricked up as they heard the soft roaring from outside. Hookfang was up and calling out for Hiccup from the enclosure, and there was no doubt that Toothless was soon to be as well.

"Right, so... now that's outta the way... onto business..."


	8. Booking

**Three Weeks Later**

_"Hiccup, hey!"_ Astrid said this as she spotted him leaving Valka's office while she was walking towards it. Her voice must have sounded louder in real life than it did in her head, since he instantly jolted back in almost fright and nearly slammed into the door behind him.

He managed to stop himself, but as soon as he fully processed the fact that it was actually her he straightened up completely again, rubbing his arm like an addict as he tried his best to face her without making eye contact. "Astrid, hey, uh... hi, Astrid... hi Astrid... hi Astrid..."

_"You okay?"_

"Yeah... yeah, I'm... oh..." he eventually manged to look directly at her and their eyes met, with his going a little wider when he got to focus on her face. The bandage on her nose was gone so he ha no doubt that she really was even more beautiful than he remembered her. She was almost like a Valkyrie of legend, and Hiccup almost felt like laughing about how her nose of all things somehow completed the look for her.

Her crystal-blue eyes fluttered quickly for a split second and she had a little amused grin stretched across her angelic face, but of course the first thing that had to come out of his mouth was "you look, uh... pretty beat... aw crap, uh... I mean... man..."

_"Oh, um... yeah. Shit..."_ It was at this point when Astrid remembered that she was currently holding a clump of bloodied tissues over the gash on her arm from where some barbed wire had slashed her and she had a small, purple shiner under her left eye after being swatted across the face with a hardback copy of _Great Expectations_. It wasn't a broken nose, but still probably not the most normal way to look either.

She felt like going in for a hug, but remembering his reaction to her last attempt at one she decided against it, trying to shuffle past him to the door while also keeping her distance. _"I just need to, uh... you know, go see your mom..."_

"Oh... yeah, sure... you, uh... you go right ahead... I'll just uh... stand aside..." he kept both his hands up so they weren't anywhere near her as she passed him to get to the door to Valka's office.

She chuckled as she stopped in the doorway, holding onto the still slightly ajar door as she stood there. _"I um... ugh... alright, listen Hiccup..."_

"Uh... yeah?" he stopped himself from running out, just to hear what Astrid had to say.

_"Well... I was just wondering... maybe you'd... uh... well, I dunno... would you wanna have lunch with me some time?"_

"Lu... lunch? What? You mean like... like together...?"

_"Yeah... yeah, together... you know, to catch up. Seeing if you've uh... changed, at all... ha ha..."_

He laughed along with her, though it was clearly an agonised and awkward laugh that he was forcing himself to make. "I um... I might be a little... little busy with... with some urgent... uh, _stuff_, right now..."

_"Hmm, well... that's okay. I can wait, um... ooh, here..."_ Astrid reached into her purse and gave him a small, tattered little piece of paper. When she put it in Hiccup's hand, he unfurled the small sheet and saw the number that had been messily scrawled onto it.

_"If you change your mind, just gimme a call on my cell..."_

"Uh... I'll keep that in mind... thanks, Astrid..." he let out a little grin at this as he folded the sheet again and put it into his pocket, before quickly turning around and getting out of the hospital as fast as his foot and prosthetic could take him.

* * *

**Later That Afternoon**

_"Alright son... out with it."_

"What? Out with what? Can't a boy just have a normal Skype call with his father?"

_"Not this boy."_ Stoick grumbled almost with a chuckle. Hiccup noticed his father trying to tap the screen on his end to make sure the volume was turned up to it's highest point before he relaxed in the chair and spoke again. _"So... what's on your mind?"_

"Ugh, right..." Hiccup scratched the back of his neck. "So I'm gonna assume, Dad, that Mom told you I bumped into Astrid Hofferson a couple weeks back."

_"Aye, ha ha... we both knew it was only a matter of time before you did."_

"Okay, yeah, so... alright, today it happened again... I mean, I didn't crash into her or anything like that, it's just... you know, we met again... outside the office."

_"It was probably about the wire injury from last night... saw the highlights on the Sports Channel this morning."_

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure there was something about her taking a book to the face too... but whatever, so she uh... she gave me her number, dad... like her cell number..."

_"And?"_

"What do you mean and?"

_"You used to talk for hours on your phones. Could never get you off. Thought you'd already have it."_

"Dad, that was... that was when we were kids, we... we got new phones, geez we're not... basically _cavemen_. We don't keep numbers, we update, we both upgrade. Hmm... we're not you and mom, is what I'm saying..."

It had been a long time since Hiccup had heard his father's loud, hearty laughter, and despite how intimidating it used to be when he was younger, now he couldn't help but feel a warm nostalgia from it, which came out in the form of a weak little grin on his face.

Stoick eventually calmed down a bit and said _"well... are you gonna call the lass, then?"_

"Dad, I... I dunno. I mean, it's not like high school, right? I can't just call her up and be all like... _hey Ast, buddy... Hiccup here, do you wanna hang later?_... right?"

_"Aye... aye, I know what you mean, son... your mum told me that the pair of you haven't talked since you left... it's hard to reconnect... lot to take in."_

"Hmm... yeah."

_"But, for what it's worth, son... Astrid does still talk about you sometimes."_

"Yeah, well... wait, what do you mean talk?"

_"Well you know... always asking your mum how you were and laughing about your good old days, and... she was actually a lot of help getting Val and me through everything after you had your... you know..."_

"Yeah. Yeah dad, I know..." Hiccup cleared his throat a bit and had to force himself to not look down at his prosthetic. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, exhaling before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the sheet Astrid had given to him.

_"Truth is, son, I've always felt Astrid had a soft spot for you... and frankly, your mother and I both know you've had your eyes on her since the two of you were wee..."_

"Dad!"

_"What, you were... alright, look Hiccup... I think you should just call her... give it a shot."_

"Yeah, well... I guess it... it's just... well, it is just _lunch_, right?"

_"Oh aye... aye, of course it would be."_ There was a hint of mischief, a chuckle, perhaps even sarcasm in Stoick's booming voice as he said this. _"For Thor's sake, just go for it son. You'll have been better off to have tried the chance than to have missed the opportunity altogether."_

"Yeah, uh... Yeah thanks, dad... I'll probably call you guys later in the week... don't really know if I'll have time, but I'll try and find some..."

_"Aye. Take care of yourself, Hiccup. Love you."_

"Love you too, dad." Hiccup exchanged a smile with his father as he put his thumb to the X screen on the tablet to end the call. Getting the phone out of his other pocket and opening it, he took another deep breath as he glanced from hand to hand at both the opened cell and the messy sheet with the number on it.

He must have been sitting here and doing nothing for a good ten minutes, silently debating with himself whether or not to follow through on what Stoick had suggested. Until he had to switch on the lamp next to him, he had barely even noticed the fact that the sunlight of dusk that was in the sky outside when he hung up the Skype call had now completely disappeared into the starry, pitch black night.

Nevertheless, after much self-deliberation and agonising procrastination, Hiccup finally typed the number into the phone and dialled it.

He sat up on the bed as the phone buzzed, indicating that her phone was switched on and ringing, but she wasn't answering it. This went on for a good thirty seconds, maybe more, and eventually the answering machine came on in Astrid's voice:

_**"Hi. This is Astrid Hofferson. I can't come to the phone right now, but if you'd like to leave a message I can call you back. Thanks a lot..."**_

"Um... hi, Ast... Astrid, this uh... this is Hiccup... Haddock, Hiccup the... you know, the uh... whatever, I... alright, you gave me your cell number, and I just wanted to call about your offer and..."

He froze as he heard the recording sound stop before hands from the other side of the call frantically fumbled around to grab the phone. A panting female voice was audible, before he heard the voice excitedly say _"Hiccup! H-hey! Is that you?! Hello?!"_

"Uh... hey, Astrid... yeah, I'm here..."

_"Great... hoo, I... no joke, I've been by my phone here since I got to my apartment waiting for you to call..."_

"Well, th... wait, you have?"

_"Yeah, it's... ha ha, it's actually pretty funny. Cause I've been sitting here for like twenty minutes and nothing happened, so I took a bathroom break and **BAM!** you called, so... ha ha... yeah, so... so what'd you say?"_

"Um... well, I uh... I was gonna say that uh... yeah. Um... yes, I'd like to hang out with you some time..."

He was surprised when he felt her hand covering the microphone on her phone, but still heard her squealing excitedly like a schoolgirl. About ten seconds later, she took her hand away and said _"great, absolutely... fantastic! So, um... how about I come over to your Sanctuary tomorrow? You know, like uh... say, eleven?"_

"Eleven in the morning...?"

_"Yeah... what, is uh... is that not a good time for you?"_

"Oh no, that's... that's absolutely fine. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

_"Great, that's that, then! See you! Bye!"_ Astrid quickly hung up, leaving Hiccup positively dumbfounded as he lay back on his bed.

"Right, so that's... so that's booked, I guess..."


	9. Perspectives

**Astrid - The Next Morning**

It was an absolutely beautiful day. The sky was a bright blue and there was barely a cloud in sight, and the sun was belting down hard as I got off the bus. I was dressed simply enough, dark tights and a short brown skirt with black calf-high boots. Not to brag or anything, but they made my ass look great, and the red sleeveless shirt helped my other assets out a lot. It was pretty hot so I had the top couple buttons undone, though on the plus side that'd definitely make it easy enough to tease my date with.

With the shadow keeping the belting sun from my face, I lifted my aviator sunglasses off of my eyes and positioned them on top of my hair as I looked at the sign on the building in front of me. _The Hidden World Animal Sanctuary, Northwest Berk_.

I had to admit, it looked pretty cute. Some of the videos Hiccup had done took place all around this place so it seems that I'd seen most of the building just through watching them. I felt a great deal of excitement and joy overcoming myself as I finally opened the door and went in, but suddenly felt this good feeling completely drop because of what I saw.

Hiccup was leaning against the desk behind him, with a pair of clearly not boy's legs wrapped around his waist from behind. The hands that accompanied these legs held his face, but things went sideways when the girl these hands and legs belonged to finally revealed herself, planting a kiss on his cheek and making a loud, dramatic noise as she did. _**"Mmmmmmmmmmm-WAH!"**_

I almost lost my breath as I saw this, but I managed to hold it without making any noise. Not that it mattered, since Hiccup and the girl hadn't seemed to notice me yet, both of them laughing as he let her go and she jumped off of him while having the time of their lives. It was probably time for me to but in. _"Hiccup?"_

Hiccup went wide-eyed and I could tell that the girl who's messy hair concealed most of her face did as well, both of them looking up at me as if they'd not expected me to be here. Because it wasn't like I'd made an appointment to meet him at eleven in the morning (which it currently was) or anything like that, right?

_"Am I, uh... interrupting something or..."_ I was trying to be sort-of jokey about this, but I could feel myself starting to get mad or upset or something. I had to stay calm, I knew that much, but I was really resisting the urge to not pound that little bitch's messy ass into the floor. _"Ugh... maybe I should..."_

"Uh no, um... Astrid, sorry, I just... I kinda lost track of time..." Hiccup itched the back of his head and looked down to the floor, clearly trying his hardest not to look me in the eye. I'm fairly certain he had no control in what this girl had just put him through so I didn't blame him for it anyway, but it was somewhat nice to see that he was trying his best to separate himself from it.

"Yeah, but uh... damn, eleven already, huh?"

_"Um... yeah..."_ I managed to say, and I hoped I let a smirk come across my face as I did. Since his eyes weren't letting mine make contact I had to focus on the little strumpet that was making a move on him a second ago.

She was exactly a head shorter than he was, and the large web of blonde, very wild hair stuck out long and curly in all directions to the point where her face was barely visible under it. As she used her forearm to brush her hair aside so we could look at each other I was silently praying that she wasn't going to be pretty underneath it all, but I sort of knew that she was going to be.

Her eyes were mostly blue with a greenish tint around the iris, not perfect but still very striking, and they were effectively emphasised by the navy-blue makeup on her upper eyelids. Not perfect but very striking seemed to apply to this girl as a whole, carrying onto her freckled yet rosy cheeks and the blood red lipstick that helped bring out the smug little smirk on her face.

She was shorter than me too, but her actual body was quite a bit curvier than mine and it seemed just over half of her below-average height belonged to her legs that started with small feet and led up to the round hips that her hands were currently relaxed on. On her right hand she wore a fingerless black glove but didn't have one on the left, and the shark-teeth necklace hanging off of her was marked with the Bog Burglar crest. She was only wearing a dirty, yellow long-sleeved shirt with a sleeveless brown vest, but the V-neck it had gave her just a bit of cleavage, not that she needed it since she was visibly on the larger side of the chest size spectrum.

_"I'm Camicazi... Camicazi Westergaard."_ she said this in her smug, sultry little voice. Not to say that this voice didn't fit the rest of her look, in fact it fitted too well. Messy as she was, she was gorgeous, and I felt myself taking less and less of a liking to her.

_"Hi..."_ I forced this out through my teeth, hoping this would serve as a sign of disapproval towards her. But of course, she wasn't deterred by my tone at all yet.

_"So uh... what's up, Nad?"_

Nad? Seriously, that's what she's calling me? Bitch.

_"I've actually heard a lot about you, and it's clear that what I've heard's not exactly exaggerated."_

Was that supposed to be some kind of backhanded diss or something? It suddenly made a lot more sense why Hiccup had been acting so nervous around me. If he had to put up with this girl's bullshit his self-esteem had to have been in the toilet.

_"You know, Hiccup really..."_

_"Yeah, I know. I've known him for years. Thanks."_ I just nodded, and I knew the tone in my voice had taken this little slut off-guard. There was very little emotion in my voice, which I think worked as an effective indicator that I wanted her to get the fuck away from me, and Hiccup. Her eyes went a little wide as I cut off her words, but about a second later she manged to recover as she put her hands on her round little hips.

_"Right, okay... I'll uh... I'll see you round, Hic..."_ Camicazi patted Hiccup on the back as she said this, and I noticed her squeezing his shoulder a little with her hand as she did. I really shouldn't have been clenching my fist like I was, but the sheer nerve this chick had would almost be admirable if it she wasn't trying so hard to spite me.

And then she turned around dramatically and strode like a short little peacock into the other room. I didn't know or care if she was intentionally walking one foot in front of the other like a model, but my eyes were almost definitely still looking at her backside even when the rest of my face was facing Hiccup's.

She closed the door behind her, which finally allowed Hiccup to straighten up and finally look at me again. The girl's blood red lipstick was still stained onto his cheek but it looked like he'd tried his hardest to wipe it off. He cleared his throat and immediately started to try making excuses for himself.

"I uh... sorry, Astrid, we were just... uh, well it's... see, Cami's my..."

_"Hiccup, it's fine..."_ I put my hand up to stop him, but gently placed it just over his heart and let myself calm down a bit. Camicazi was gone and we didn't have to focus on her for now, it was just me and him. I chuckled a bit and smiled at him, which seemed to almost make him melt on the inside as he let out his own weak little grin in response to it. We just had to pretend that little... incident... didn't happen. Clean slate. Start over.

_"So..."_ I said. _"What do you wanna do?"_

* * *

**Camicazi - Two Minutes Earlier**

_"Well for one thing, I'm not letting you go on a date with your hair looking like something out of Downtown Abbey..."_ I reached my hand to the hair that he'd tried to slick down with some gel and managed to ruffle it a bit before he jerked away and forced my hand off of him.

"No! Cami, I gotta look nice!" he almost snapped back as he tried to flatten his hair down again, clearing his throat as he tried to keep his distance from me. I'd seen him intense and worried before, more times than you could possibly count, but never this bad. He'd always remained calm when the animals acted aggressively or needed taking care of, but he was really worried about this date he had with the Hofferson girl. Though I guess childhood crushes can do this to you.

"_Hiccup, you just gotta relax, okay... it'll be fine. Your mom said that you guys always got along great... just like your old times..."_

"Oh that's bullshit, you know it won't be like that anymore... ugh shit, not again..." he said this under his breath as he noticed his sneakers' lace was untied. For a guy with one leg I figured a loose shoelace was even more of a deathtrap than it was for a person with two, so he got down on one knee to fix it. "Cami, I don't think I can meet her like this... alright, I... I feel like I'm gonna have a panic attack, and she's gonna get embarrassed again, and... and... oh man, I can't do this..."

_**"RRAAAGH! A ha-ha-ha!"**_ I decided to interrupt his overly-panicked thoughts by jumping onto his back and latching my hands onto his shoulders, eventually managing to get one of my arms around his neck and put my other hand over his eyes to blind him as his hands frantically tried to pull me off.

**"Agh! Cami, come on! I don't... ugh! I don't have time for this! Aah!"**

He struggled to stand up as I kept my grip and hung off of him, and he was clearly trying his hardest not to start laughing like I was doing. I'd always loved doing this to him, ever since we were kids, and as much as he told me he hated it I personally think that deep down that he loved taking it just as much as I loved dishing it out.

This little game of ours devolved as it always did, only now, since Hiccup had shot up like a beanstalk when we were in college, he had somewhat of an advantage over me. You'd think that little metal stump he had to call a left leg would be a liability, but if anything it seemed to support him even more. I hadn't really grown to the extent that he had over the years, at least not in the same way, so when he pushed my arms away I had to resort to latching my legs around his waist just so I didn't fall down and break something.

"Alright Cam... I'm giving you one chance to just let go and not get yourself killed..." he managed to say in a smug tone as I dragged him towards the desk behind him.

_**"Pah! And miss all the fun!?"**_ I now had both hands in his hair and my own hair was flaying about wildly and blinding us both. _**"You're the one who's gotta submit, asshat!"**_

He was loosening up, just as I thought he would. He didn't have a chance in Hel with any girl, especially not one of the Deadly Nadder's standards, being awkward and nervous the whole time, so he needed a good laugh and I think this is exactly what I was giving him.

I managed to latch my hands onto his shoulders again and pull the rest of my upper body back up so my head was next to his. _"Don't make me use my Poison Ivy on you..."_

"Oh fuck you! You better not!" he said this in an almost threatening tone but it was too late, and I pressed my lips to his cheek to leave a wet, sloppy kiss on it. _**"Mmmmmmmmmmm-WAH!"**_

**"Ugh! Ew, come on, man! Too far!"** Hiccup laughed, let me go and I jumped off of him as he wiped the cheek where my lips had been. He'd always hated the smell of my lipstick and it didn't wash off easy, but in hindsight it probably wasn't a bright idea to send him on his date with a lipstick shape of my mouth on his cheek.

_"Hiccup?"_

We both went wide-eyed as we heard this voice. I'd heard this voice when I'd watched her perform for BMCA and Hiccup was clearly very familiar with the voice of his childhood best friend, and we both looked up to the main doorway. There she was, Astrid "Deadly Nadder" Hofferson herself, standing there with raised eyebrows, crossed arms and a surprised and almost upset look on her face.

I wasn't sure when exactly she'd come in, but it was probably safe to assume that'd she'd seen Hiccup giving me a piggy-back ride with my legs around his waist and that kiss on the cheek. An odd sight to come into, I'm sure, but she was obviously pretty smart so it was safe to assume that she'd not be turned off the Haddock boy quite yet.

_"Am I, uh... interrupting something or... ugh... maybe I should..."_

"Uh no, um... Astrid, sorry, I just... I kinda lost track of time..." Hiccup itched the back of his head and looked down to the floor, clearly trying his hardest not to look her in the eye. "Yeah, but uh... damn, eleven already, huh?"

_"Um... yeah..."_ she managed to say. Since his eyes were on the floor and off-limits to her, she'd placed her eyes entirely on me. It wasn't really what I'd expected, but it was clear that I'd have to take charge for Hiccup since he couldn't talk his way out of a paper bag. So I decided to start things off and introduce myself, albeit brushing my messy hair out of my face so she could see it.

_"I'm Camicazi... Camicazi Westergaard."_ I thought about reaching a hand for her to shake but I decided against it. I'd never met Astrid in person before this point, so I wasn't exactly sure where to distinguish her stage persona from her real-life one, and the Deadly Nadder wasn't one for formalities like handshakes in her performances.

_"Hi..."_ she managed to force this out through her gritted teeth. She seemed pretty tense, so I probably had to take a more subtle approach with this. I took a second to think about what to say next, and it came down to the wire between a compliment about her career, a compliment about her clothes or something to big up Hiccup a bit. Eventually, I settled on a mix of all three.

_"So uh... what's up, Nad? I've actually heard a lot about you, and it's clear that what I've heard's not exactly exaggerated. You know, Hiccup really..."_

_"Yeah, I know. I've known him for years. Thanks."_ she just nodded as she said this, her face being totally blank aside from the lowering of her brow and the flattening of her lips. She was staring at Hiccup, and then me, and then Hiccup and then me again, and it felt like you could cut the tension here with a knife. I kept my grin with my hands on my hips. For some reason it seemed she wasn't really taking to me, so rather than start a scene I decided to remove myself and let the pair get on with their date.

_"Right, okay... I'll uh... I'll see you round, Hic..."_ I said this as I patted Hiccup on the back, squeezing his shoulder for a moment as a subtle little sign of "good luck", and turned away, walking calmly and confidently out of the room while Hiccup tried to get everything back on track.

Hope I didn't screw things up too bad.


	10. Tame

_"Well, I've seen these big fellas before, ha-ha..."_ Astrid muttered this as Hiccup led her out back towards the big cat enclosure. The big tiger was sitting at the end of the fence of his area and stood up on all fours when he saw the unfamiliar figure behind his usual handler, which prompted Astrid to let out an awkward little wave at him. _"That's uh... that's Hookfang, right?"_

"Yep, that's him... the one and only..." Hiccup seemed very proud of the tiger as he went to the fence and poked his hand through it to stroke his head, the two of them exchanging chuffing noises as if they were having an entire little conversation. Astrid couldn't help but grin at this, before her attention turned to the black shadow sitting in the area next door.

_"Hmm... and this, must be the famous Toothless…"_

The leopard didn't seem to be accommodating her in any shape or form, and hadn't even gotten up from where he was sitting at the corner of the fence with his head drooped peaceful. As his handler and his ladyfriend approached him, Toothless opened my mouth a bit, allowing Astrid to see the pink of his gums. Astrid chuckled at this as she got onto her knees and shuffled to the very edge of the fence so that it was the only thing separating her from the leopard.

She glanced back at Hiccup with a grin as she slowly reached a hand forward to pet the big cat's face. "Uh, Astrid... I wouldn't do that if I were..."

**_HISS!_**

**_"Argh! Holy shit!"_** Astrid yanked her hand back and fell on her backside as the leopard suddenly unsheathed his claws and revealed his teeth in a fierce snarl, letting her see that they'd all grown out quite a bit since the video she'd seen and were still very, very sharp even without the big fangs to back up. The fence would have stopped him from attacking her anyway, but she still shuffled backwards in her burst of fright.

**_"Fuck me, that's scary!"_** She was still bursting out curse words through her heavily panting as Hiccup knelt down and gently pushed her behind him a bit, shuffling towards the edge of the fence and reaching forwards to try and pacify the leopard himself. "Easy bud, easy... she's a friend."

Astrid had one hand on his shoulder and was poking her head nervously from behind his back, Hiccup chuckling anxiously as he said "it's okay, you... you just scared him."

**_"I scared him?!"_** Astrid shot back in a tone mixing both anger and panic. Hiccup almost seemed to scoff at this as he reached his hand through the gap in the fence and gently placed it on the cat's nose, with the beast grumbling softly in response. Astrid's frantic, panicking tone slowed inyo awe and then warmed into a proud little grin as she saw this, admiring the sheer trust that was bonding the boy and his friend together.

She'd seen hints of this in his first-person vlogs, but this was her witnessing it herself for the first time, the animal lover in his real element.

_"Aw... he's actually really cute... the um... the leopard, that is..."_

"Yeah, ha-ha... alright... come on..." Astrid tensed back a bit as Hiccup extended a hand to her, and when he turned to face her he seemed almost surprised by how scared she still was. "Ast, it... it's okay... he won't hurt you..."

It took her a moment to think about this, staring at the hand he held out before she slowly and carefully took it. She always remembered how soft and gentle Hiccup had been with his hands when they were younger, but she was still surprised by the fact that they hadn't changed a bit even now. He took his hand off of hers and let her fully open it, before put his hand behind hers and pushing it slowly towards the fence again as the leopard looked up curiously.

"Just keep it open, that's it..." Hiccup eventually managed to get Astrid's hand through the fence, but still had his own nearby in case he had to yank it back away again. "Nothing to be afraid of... just let him come to you."

She tensed her eyes shut as she kept reaching forwards, tending a little as she felt her hand press firmly on the soft, furry nose. Once she opened her eyes to see the leopard putting his trust in her with complete relaxation, she exhaled heavily as her confidence came rushing back to her.

Astrid was grinning smugly as she patted the nose gently, clearly proud with herself as she looked at a still slightly worried Hiccup. "Alright, now just... pet him a little, you know... like a housecat... just be careful, though..."

_"Yeah... you know, I think I'm getting the hang of this…"_ she whispered excitedly, before slowly taking her hand away as the leopard got back down to rest again. She glanced at Hookfang as he also sat down to sleep, before looking back to Hiccup with a grin as she said _"so, what do these guys do then?"_

Hiccup went a little wide-eyed at this question. "Wait, what... what do you mean?"

_"Well, you know... do they like, do barrel rolls or something? Jump hoops? Eat treats? Come on, Hiccup, you see stuff like that on TV all the time..."_

Hiccup looked away from her for a moment, taking about five seconds of silence before letting out an audible sigh. "They probably _can_, but they _don't_."

_"Hmm..."_ Astrid pursed her lips a lit, her tone of voice almost sounding disappointed. _"Well, these guys obviously trust you a lot, Hiccup... you ever thought about teachin' em a few tricks? I mean, I bet it'd get you a lot of views..."_

"Astrid, I... I think there's something you should see..."

* * *

**CCTV, Police Archive - Bludvist Family Circus**

_The one-armed, dreadlocked, heavyset ringmaster stood in the centre of the arena with one of it's spotlights shining on him and the other shining on the cage that was being opened. He and the loudly cheering audience were clearly speaking in a foreign language, most likely one from Eastern Europe, and the subtitles had to translate what they said._

**_"And now, ladies and gentlemen.. from the jungles of darkest India... the fiercest creature to ever walk the earth, tamed and trained for your viewing pleasure... Shere Khan, the striped dancer!"_**

_The chain around his neck was made of an incredibly heavy metal and clearly weighed the young, frail tiger down as he slowly limped into the arena, clearly trying to keep his distance from the ringmaster. **"Come! Move! MOVE!"**_

_The beast cried out in agony as the ringmaster swung the pipe he was holding, tensing away with a high-pitched yelp as it slashed the right side of his back and a few drops of blood spurted out of the wound._

_The man laughed as he kicked the beast so hard that it fell onto it's side, crying out again as the sand on the floor made its way into the fresh wound._

_**"We humans are the king of the beasts, my friends... they belong to us, they bow to us... and we can control them all!"**_

* * *

Astrid could barely comprehend what she was watching, and even though Hiccup was being completely silent she knew just from how he was clenching his fist around the small, green stress-ball in his hand that he was mad just at the sight of the disgusting video. _"Oh gods... Hiccup, this... this is awful..."_

"I know, I just..." Hiccup picked up the remote and exited the video, switching off the screen before lurching forwards in the chair to think for a moment.

"It was about two years ago now... me and Cami had only been working here a couple weeks... police just busted this circus, and they brought Hookfang here to us... I had Mom come over and she helped fix him up, disinfect him, stuff like that... he wasn't even aggressive, he just... he... he was just so.. so scared and, and he wouldn't eat for days, and... and when he... ugh..." Hiccup had to wipe his face to stop himself from crying just thinking about it. "When he first got into the enclosure, he looked like he'd never felt grass before, Astrid... fucking grass!"

_"Man... but what about... you know..."_

"Toothless?"

_"Yeah. Was he from a circus too?"_

"Botched animal trafficking... they were selling stolen cubs to be pets on the black market, like those whole illegal puppy farm things... yeah, and uh... well, Toothless was sold to some drug kingpin or something like that, whatever... when he was only about a month old. They took out his fangs, declawed his back feet, the crazy fucker even chopped the tip of his tail off, and... ugh..."

_"How old was Toothless when you found him?"_

"Nearly a year... he was snarling and hissing and he didn't trust anyone for a good couple weeks, but... one day, I went to feed him, and... I looked him in the eye, Astrid... he was just as frightened as I was..." Hiccup almost seemed to laugh at this, not a proper hysterical laugh, but a small, nostalgic one. "I looked at him... and I saw myself..."

_"Hmm... yeah, I bet you did..."_

"Well, whatever... the bastards are in prison now, and the boys are here with us... so that's something, I guess..."

Astrid sighed as she glanced out the window to see Hookfang sleeping, only just noticing that he still had a sizeable scar that ran down the right side of his back. _"I just don't get it, Hiccup..."_

"Eh... people can be cruel..."

_"Well, I know, but how could... how could anyone treat such beautiful, innocent animals like that...? Really? Put them on display like fucking performers... geez, these poor guys don't need to get the crap kicked out of them for some sick asshole's entertainment, it... it's barbaric..."_

"At least when humans do that, they usually get a choice, right?"

Astrid went a little more wide-eyed as Hiccup said this, since his tone of voice seemed surpisingly bitter with that last part. That wasn't meant to be a jab at her. It couldn't possibly be. Could it?

Nevertheless, she cleared her throat and wiped her face with her hand, flattening down the creases on her shirt as she stood up. _"Well, I should... I should probably get going..."_

"On, right... sure, yeah..." Hiccup pulled himself onto his foot and prosthetic, reaching a hand forwards for her to shake. "This was, uh... this was fun... kind of like old times..."

_"Hmm... yeah, it was..."_ Astrid smiled at him as she put both her hands over his and pulled him towards her into a hug. He seemed notably less hesitant to return this one, and he even seemed to wait a little longer before separating from her again.

_"So... you still got my number?"_

"Oh, yeah... sure, I got it..." Hiccup patted the beast pocket in his shirt right where his heart would be. "And you've obviously got mine now, cause... cause I called you."

_"Yeah... well, we'll get together some other time, right? Ha ha... maybe actually eat something next time we have a lunch date..."_

They both chortled mischievously at this, almost sounding like children laughing at one of their old in-jokes again. Hiccup was the first to calm down, holding out his elbow and saying "well, Milady... shall I escort you to your bus stop?"

_"Hmm... why thank you, kind sir..."_


	11. Arrangement

**Later That Night...**

_**"HEE-YAH! HAGH! UGH!"**_

The grunts Astrid let out were punctuated by strikes and kicks that she gave to the old leather punching bag that she hang hanging from the ceiling in her room. It had belonged to her Uncle Finn, and whenever she was stressed out from schoolwork, something with her parents or really just anything that made her feel uneasy about herself, he'd let her come over to his apartment and let loose on this old relic. She was the only one that he bothered to let do this, so it made the most sense that he left it for her to take for herself after he'd passed on.

It was a wonderfully handy method of venting her frustration. While she tired herself out beating the bag her mind often liked to imagine doing some physical punishment to someone she hated while she did this. Usually it was the twins, occasionally it was Heather or Oswald the Antagonistic, but at the moment she was doing an imaginary beatdown on the ringleader of that circus video while also kicking in the skull of that frizzy haired Bog Burglar girl she'd seen harassing Hiccup earlier, Carla or Carrie or whatever she called herself.

Oh, how tempting it was to just grab that girl by those greasy golden locks sticking out of her head, wrap them around her scrawny little neck and strangle her with it. Of course, this was mostly the anger talking, but she was almost wishing that this girl somehow signed with BMCA so that Astrid would be perfectly allowed to go to town on her.

But this was only a thought. It was bad enough that she'd probably have to see this girl every time she saw Hiccup, so the last thing she needed was for her to be a direct rival in her job too.

**_"RRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHH!"_** she backed herself into the wall and then shot herself forwards to drop kick the bag, the force of her kick sending it up so that the bottom of it almost touched the ceiling. She'd landed back-first on the carpet with some force, but was so overcome by the adrenaline that it didn't really hurt, and by the time the rush had gone the pain from the fall would have likely dulled down.

She'd gotten most of her stress out of her system, always being able to tell by how much her hands ached, so she straightened herself back up, undid the braid her hair was in and slumped back on her bed. Once she managed to get enough energy for it she slowly pulled off her skirt and her boots and lay back in her sleeveless vest and leggings for a few minutes before she finally got under the covers.

The date, if one could even call it that, wasn't nearly as awkward or uncomfortable as she feared it would have been. Though that wasn't to say that it didn't awkward and it especially got uncomfortable when they watched those videos, but a good long portion of the encounter was almost just like old times. Before they'd gone their separate ways, before that embarrassing incident after Gustav's party.

But she supposed that there was still a way to go before she and Hiccup had a full, official reconnection. It'd most likely take a few more of these meetings, and they'd probably not all go as well as today, especially if she were to make another stupid comment that reminded him of that circus again. If Astrid knew anything for certain, it was that she needed to switch up her approach.

**_BZZ! BZZ-bZZ!_**

She almost jolted up in wide eyed shock as she heard the ringtone of her phone vibrating on the table next to her bed, before she quickly scrambled to sit up as she grabbed it and answered her manager's call.

"Hey Sven... what's up?"

_"Hello Astrid... didn't mean to wake you, but um... well, here's the thing. I just got an email about five minutes ago from the twins' manager again, asking about the possibility of an official..."_

"Yeah I'm gonna stop you right there, Sven, because I'm pretty sure you know already what my answer's gonna be."

_"I'm guessing it's a no?"_

"Congratulations." she snarked. "So you can tell that money-grubbing sack of fucksticks that I'd rather shit on my hands and clap than do than be in the same ring as that brick-headed nitwit otherwise known as Ruffnut Thorston."

_"Right oh. I'll let him know now."_

"Thanks Sven. You're the best." Astrid then hung up the phone and put it back on the desk next to her as she finally rested back on the pillow and went to sleep.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later - Hooligan Memorial Park**

"Wait, you mean like... like da... d-dating?!"

Astrid could tell that Hiccup was trying to stop himself from having a heart attack when he straightened up on the bench they were sitting on. Granted, she hadn't exactly built up to this bombshell before she dropped it, but even then she was expecting him to be at least a little more subtle about how he was obviously feeling.

He'd been quiet ever since he'd met her today, even more so than when they'd met up since their first hangout at the Sanctuary two weeks beforehand. It was probably because Astrid had laughed at the outfit he was wearing.

He'd been a fan of Doctor Who when they were growing up, so Astrid was certain that he was trying to cosplay as the Fourth Doctor here, with his light marigold overcoat and had a red and white striped scarf around his neck, while he still had his glasses on and wore one of Stoick's old black fedoras. With the red woollen teddy coat, blue short sweatshirt and light blue beanie hat she had on, it was basically a difference of night and day, like a before-and-after comparison for how much clothing had developed over the decades.

She had to try and recover this conversation, but she'd probably put them both in a corner with what she'd suggested. Her mind was probably overreacting since it was in the heat of the moment, but she was certain that this was a lot tougher than any fight she'd ever been in.

_"Hmm... well uh... yeah, ha ha... dating, I uh... I guess you could call it that."_ she slowly nudged herself closer to him, gently reaching to take his hand. Having realised that she was probably imposing herself too much if she did this, she slowly took the hand back away and instead rested it on his forearm instead. _"I mean... we don't have to call it that, cause... well yeah, I get it Hiccup, we... we've not talked in years, and it's probably stupid that I..."_

"Well I... I didn't say it was stupid, it's just... come on, Astrid... me, seriously?" He motioned to himself with his hands in an attempt to visualise his self-deprecating point, but Astrid merely chuckled at what he was implying.

_"Aw, Hiccup... don't be so hard on yourself..."_ she put a hand on his shoulder. _"Alright, you... well, sure you're not exactly what society would usually consider... uh... ideal, but... you're cute, and... and funny and charming, and... well, I guess you're a little more my taste in a man..."_

"Pft, yeah right..." he snarked under his breath just so she couldn't hear, before looking away from her as if to think about what she was offering. Astrid sat back on the bench waiting for him to turn back, and she could tell without him saying anything or even seeing his face that he was hotly debating with himself about what to say.

Eventually, he did turn back, clearing his throat and trying (and failing) to make his voice sound a little less nasally. "Well uh... yeah... sure, I'd uh... I'd love to be your uh... your um..."

_"Boyfriend?"_

"Oh, right... yeah, sure. Yeah, Astrid, I... I'd love to..."

* * *

**One Hour Later...**

"So uh... can I ask you a question?" Hiccup nervously stammered this out as he and Astrid walked down the street back to the Sanctuary. All she had to do was get a bus from there back to her apartment, so it was a regular occurrence now that she walked him back while they chatted. Though due to the new conditions they'd agreed to, she had her left arm linked with his right while holding his right hand with her right.

_"Well, you just did, but... sure..."_ she giggled a bit as she rested her head on his shoulder. _"Ask away..."_

"If we're like uh... you know... _this_, Astrid, uh... who am I supposed to keep this from?"

_"Wait... keep it...?"_ she almost froze on the spot as he said this. _"You mean like... like a secret?"_

"What, oh... oh no, not like a secret... uh, more like a... a... you know, a um... well... yeah. Yeah, a secret..."

They stopped and Astrid separated a bit from him, noticing that they were literally ten feet away from the entrance to the Santuary parking lot. She almost felt like scoffing, or groaning, or making some noise that indicated annoyance at what he was suggesting, but she managed to restrain herself from doing so and remained positive.

_"Hiccup, sweetheart, I... I don't think you need to keep... us... a secret from anybody."_

"Oh, right, because... look, I dunno, you... you hear all these stories about how people who date celebrities sign, like, NDAs or stuff like that and..."

_"Pft... nah, come on, it's not like that."_ she hesitated a bit, but after a second she clasped both her hands around his right and pulled him forwards a bit so she could kiss him on the cheek. _"I can decide who I wanna be with, Hiccup... no code, no contract, just... two people, who like each other... dating... right?"_

"Hmm... yeah..." Hiccup cleared his throat a bit, clearly still not being entirely sure about this but obviously being reluctant to protest further. "Um... ooh!"

Astrid wondered why he reacted this way, or what he'd reacted to, until she looked up to the main door of the Sanctuary. There was about a hundred yards of parking lot before the door itself, but Astrid quickly realised that _she_ was there.

Camicazi, that was her name, standing with her arms crossed while letting out a little wave at Hiccup. Astrid had been in such a happy mood while she was walking him back, but seeing that strumpet standing there was threatening to make her boil over with rage. Hiccup obviously wouldn't be speaking for himself when telling her about his arrangement with Astrid, so Astrid decided she had to send this message herself.

_"Well... I guess I'll see you next time there's a rift in the space-time-continuum, Doc..."_ Astrid laughed a bit as she playfully pulled his hat down so that it covered his eyes. Hiccup grunted but then laughed as he grabbed the corners of his hat and lifted it off of his head, being shocked when Astrid took the opportunity to grab him by the scarf and pull him forward into an actual, proper kiss on the lips.

There was a hungriness to the kiss, she couldn't help that, but Astrid had also managed to restrain herself and yet there was also an affectionate, almost gentle approach rather than the forcefulness she'd used that night after Gustav's party. Since it lasted nearly ten seconds she was sure he very nearly returned it, but she regretfully separated from him, with his lips and one side of his mouth having the shape of hers imprinted on them in her dark blue lipstick.

Tucking her slightly loosened hair back in and flattening down the creases made on her clothes, just so that she still looked presentable when getting on the bus, Astrid smiled at Hiccup as she walked backwards out of the parking lot. _"Well, uh... when I'm free again, I guess I'll uh... I'll just call or text, okay?"_

"Okay, yeah... sure... uh... bye!" Hiccup called to her, blushing slightly as Astrid blew him a kiss before walking away. He brushed his face with the back of his hand as he walked over to the doorway where Cami was standing.

_"Looks like you were enjoying that..."_ she snarked as she playfully patted him on the shoulder. _"So how'd it go...?"_

"Well, we uh... um, we, uh..." Hiccup scratched the back of his head as he turned back to the door and watched Astrid walking away. "We're apparently a thing. I guess..."


	12. Social

**One Week Later - Valentine's Day**

_**"Agh, shit! Whoa!"**_

It was a chance encounter. Neither of them were really watching where they were going when they bumped into each other, so they couldn't really call the other out for it. The girl brushed her black hair out of her face and pulled Hiccup back up, frantically trying to apologise as she did so.

_"Gods, I... I'm really sorry, I was checking my fucking phone and I didn't... oh... hey, you're um... you're Hiccup Haddock, right?"_

"Yep, the one and only, I guess... wait... oh, hey!" Hiccup was taken back a bit when he recognised Fishlegs' high school sweetheart. "Um, it's... Heather, right?"

_"Yeah, it's Heather... ha ha. Man, I mean... geez, cause you know... Fishlegs hasn't really seen you in a while, Hiccup..."_

"Oh... you guys are still together, huh?" he desperately hoped he'd assumed correctly because that would just make things even more awkward than they possibly could have been. Luckily, it appeared that he _was_ correct, as Heather's shy little nod and the little blush that came onto her cheeks seemed to indicate. "So, uh... I guess you guys are taking care of yourselves?"

_"Oh yeah, sure. Yeah, we're happy... we heard about your job at the Sanctuary too... so congrats for that."_

"Aw, thanks. I mean, if you're gonna do a job, be passionate about it, right?"

_"Absolutely, yeah. Not that I blame you, because I'm an animal lover myself... I'm actually a real huge fan of your HicTooth vlogs on YouTube so..."_ Heather pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment, clearly indicating a slight hint of embarrassment. _"Um... alright look, I know this probably sounds ridiculous... but... is it okay if I just grab a picture with you, real quick? For my social media..."_

"Oh, uh... yeah, sure, no problem..." Hiccup awkwardly shuffled over to Heather, letting her put her arm around his waist while she rested her head on his shoulder. She took a second to figure out what pose she was going to do while she adjusted the position of her arm holding the phone. He gave an awkward, toothy smile for the picture, but felt his eyes widen a little when Heather quickly pecked him on the cheek just as the camera flashed.

_"Great. Thanks..."_ she let him go and put the phone back in her pocket as she walked away from him, waving as she called _"take care of yourself, Hiccup..."_

"Oh sure... you too... tell Fishlegs I said hi!" he awkwardly waved back as Heather took off in the opposite direction to where he was heading. He stood silently for a moment pondering to himself, before shaking his head as he continued to where he was going.

* * *

**Valentine's Day Special - Fly Or Flop (HicTooth Diaries #210)**

_Hiccup cleared his throat as he turned on the camera, putting it on the tripod as he sat in the chair in front of Toothless and Hookfang's enclosures. **"Hey guys, Hiccup here... so uh... first off, I wanna wish everybody a happy Valentine's Day, from myself and Hookfang and Toothless. Say hi boys!"**_

_He chuckled a bit as neither the leopard or the tiger acknowledged his request, before adding **"okay, so unfortunately they're not in the mood for this sort of thing. Very unromantic. Lucky for us, though, we have a special guest here today, and it's none other than my old high school buddy who you might know as the current BMCA champion... Astrid "Deadly Nadder" Hofferson!"**_

**_"Hey guys! Great to be here!" _**_Astrid took the bottom corner of the camera from Hiccup and panned it over so that she was the one being shown on screen, putting a hand on Hiccup's shoulder as they both sat down with the pile of cards stacked between them._

**_"Yeah... the... ever wonderful Astrid is joining me today... and well, we thought we'd try something a little fun, if stupid... I'd do this myself, but Astrid's just here to make sure I don't reference any dead memes..."_**

**_"Pft, yeah..."_**_ Astrid scoffed. _**_"Okay, so today we're gonna take a look at some super cheesy Valentine's Day cards and decide if the messages inside are a Flop, or a Fly. You wanna start, Hiccup?"_**

_**"Right on it Milady, uh... um... oh gods... uh..."** Hiccup cleared his throat as he read the card, raising an eyebrow and trying to sound suave as he looked at Astrid with a smile. **"Hey Astrid... are you French? Because Eiffel for you."**_

_**"HA! Absolutely not!"** Astrid spoke out loud as they both laughed, with a loud **SPLAT** sound being heard as a **Flop** was added to Hiccup's scorecard. Hiccup put the card down and nonchalantly said **"yeah, that... that's just... garbage, ha ha... alright, what's yours?"**_

_**"Okay-okay-okay..."** Astrid giggled as she saw what the card said, taking a few minutes before she looked back at Hiccup with a bright red blush on her face. **"Ahem... I guess you can kiss Heaven goodbye, because it has to be a sin to look that good."**_

**_"Fly, I love it."_**

_**"Wait, really? Was that a Fly?!"** Astrid went wide-eyed with a shocked smile as a **DING** sound indicated that a **Fly** was added to her scorecard._

_**"Well what can I say? You know, it... it appeals to my narcissism, so... ha ha, alright..."** he looked at his next card and thought about how to deliver it. **"Okay... if I were a transplant surgeon, I'd give you my heart."**_

_**"Pft, no... no, you never, ever start with if I were a transplant surgeon."** Astrid was almost about to start laughing just in response to the high-pitched, hysterical chuckling Hiccup was now doing as she said this and another **Flop** was added to his scorecard. She then looked at her card for a few moments, taking a deep breath before saying **"alright... are you a parking ticket? Because you've got fine written all over you."**_

_**"A ha-ha-ha-ha-haah!"** Hiccup was caught completely off-guard by this one and nearly fell back out of the chair before Astrid managed to grab him and hoist him back up onto it. **"Oh... oh-ho, I... I loved that one, so that's a Fly..."**_

_This went on for a good twenty minutes or so, with Hiccup usually being a lot more generous with putting **Fly** on Astrid's scorecard than she had been with his, until it finally got to the last set of cards. Astrid read hers first, biting her bottom lip to keep herself from breaking down in embarrassed laughter._

**_"Is... ugh... is your name wi-fi? Because I... a ha... I'm really feeling a c... connection! Ah ha ha ha ha!"_**

_**"What? Ugh. Alright, no... no, that's a Flop."** Hiccup was grinning and trying to stop himself from breaking down because of her card while he got out his last one. They took a moment to calm down from the chortling, Astrid straightening up with a poker face on as Hiccup cleared his throat._

_**"Alright... hello."** he waved to visualise his point. **"I'm a thief, and I'm here to steal your heart."**_

_Astrid was clearly taken off-guard by this one, blushing a bit as she tried to think about what to say. **"Well... I mean... ugh... fine, fuck it... agh shit, am I allowed to swear on this?"**_

**_"Well... we'll see..."_**

**_"Right, well... whatever, I'll let you have that one. That one's a Fly!"_**

_**"Hmm, nice..."** Hiccup seemed far prouder of his last Fly on the scorecard, since the number of them that he had seemed to have been greatly outnumbered by the number of Flops, especially in comparison to Astrid's. **"Of course, you probably won overall..."**_

_**"Well really, we both won, sweetheart."** Astrid took his hand gently as she looked at the camera with a smug grin, with Hiccup going wide-eyed as he realised what she was about to do. **"Because guess what, world?! Hiccup Haddock and Astrid "Deadly Naddder" Hofferson are officially on dating terms! Peace out, motherfuckers!"**_

_Hiccup almost tried to stop Astrid as she reached for the camera and switched it off, not noticing him inaudibly wording out a weak little **"oh shit..."** with his mouth as the filming stopped._

* * *

**The Next Day**

"Ah ha ha! There she is! There's my future daughter-in-law! Come here, you!"

_"Oh!"_ Astrid had barely made it into Valka's office when she was wrapped into a bone-crushing hug that knocked the breath out of her lungs. When Valka finally released her Astrid had to lean back against the side of the operating table with her hand over her stomach to regain her breath. _"So... so I, ugh... I take it you're happy about me and Hiccup, huh?"_

"Hmm... oh aye, I'm all for it dear..." Valka had her arm on Astrid's shoulder a little more gently now, just so she could speak a little quieter and closer to her. "I mean... just between the pair of us, Astrid... he's always had eyes for you... he'll deny it all he can, but I know him too well. It's the old Haddock charm, just like his father..."

_"Yeah, well... wait, he has?"_ Astrid was a little wide-eyed at this for a moment, but she looked away from Valka as she rubbed her own arm nervously. _"Huh... well that's... weird..."_

"Weird? What do you mean by that?"

_"Oh... nothing, nothing like that, Val. Hiccup's not weird, well, he is, but... it's just... funny, cause..."_ she looked to the ground as she said this and scratched the back of her head. _"It's just... back in high school, Hiccup and I kinda... um... well, we just... we stopped talking for a while..."_

"Aye, well... you know what he was like back then, Astrid... all about his studies, and you of course were all about your little... career..."

_"Well, yeah, but... but the thing is that... it was after I... I uh... hmm... well, never mind... I'm meeting him tomorrow anyway."_

"Oh aye... so, have you any fights booked this week, or is my lad taking up your calendar now?"

_"Uh-huh, well uh... ooh, that reminds me..."_ Astrid didn't notice Valka's face almost shrink a bit in disappointment as she got out her notebook and passed a sheet to Valka. _"I'm going against Snotlout this week. Uh... whatever the day it is on there... Hiccup knows, but... I don't think he's watching it, but... whatever..."_

"Right, got it."

_"Yeah... well, I uh... anyway, so I might see you after that, Val..."_

"Uh-huh." Valka seemed more dismissive as she put the sheet into her diary and sat back at her desk, clenching a pen in her hands with what seemed to be most of the strength and pressure she could put into it. "Presume you'll be off now, then?"

_"Yeah... I'll uh..."_ Astrid stopped herself in the doorway as she thought for a moment, clearly noting that she'd upset Valka somehow. _"Um... Hiccup and I might drop in later this week, so uh... see you later!"_

"Aye. Goodbye dear..." Valka kept her grin forced on her face until Astrid had sped out of the office, before sighing with her palm to her face and a nervous chuckle in the back of her throat. "Ugh... one step at a time... one step at a time..."

* * *

**That Night - Astrid's Apartment**

**_"Wait... what the fuck?!"_**

Astrid was sitting on her bed and had just finished rewatching the _Flop/Fly_ video from the day before when she saw the picture that had been recommended to her based on what she was watching. It was from Instagram, and the message written on the notification was simple enough.

**People Who Watched HicTooth Diaries #210 Also Liked...**

Hiccup was in the picture, but she almost felt like vomiting when she saw who he was posing with. She might have been able to tolerate this if it had been that messy haired Camicazi girl from the sanctuary, since they at least worked together and that girl seemed to like throwing him around to her own way, as far as Astrid was concerned. As much as it would have pissed Astrid off to see Hiccup taking a picture like this with that girl, it sadly wouldn't have been out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Camicazi, but arguably someone even worse. And the fact that this person was giving her man a kiss offended Astrid on just about every level possible. **_"That low-life fucking slut!"_**


	13. Girl Talk

**The Next Morning**

**_"I don't fucking believe he would do this to me! I don't fucking believe it!"_** Astrid muttered viscerally under her breath as she got off the cramped bus. She'd had to stay on for a few more stops than usual since she was going to Hiccup's apartment rather than to the Sanctuary. There had to have been some part of her on the inside that didn't want to take this out on Hiccup, but it was just too overcome by rage to make itself known.

Best case scenario, in her mind at least, was that Heather somehow found out about the relationship and tricked Hiccup into taking the picture. However she knew, if she even knew, Astrid didn't really know or care yet, but she had to get to the bottom of this. Hiccup was her friend, and now her boyfriend too, but that didn't mean she was going to let him or Heather make a fool out of her.

The elevator was out of order so the only way to the apartment door was to get to the top of a fairly high flight of steps. If she weren't on such an adrenaline rush thanks to her anger she was certain that she'd be exhausted by the time she reached it, but now she had plenty of energy to use, quickly rattling her fist on the door with a _**BANG-BANG-BANG!**_

**_"Hiccup! Hiccup come on, open the door... Hiccup!"_** she had her hands on her hips as her nostrils flared while she waited for the door to be opened, or at least something or someone on the other side to have acknowledged her presence. **_BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!_**

**_"ALRIGHT! I'm coming, jeez..."_** a voice on the other end of the door called out in frustration, but Astrid immediately went wide-eyed when she realised the familiar voice didn't belong to Hiccup, or a boy at all. Her fists clenched when the door opened and the short woman the voice belonged to was standing there with a surprised expression on her face.

"Oh hey Nad... what's up?"

Camicazi was only wearing a messy blue dressing gown, but it was tied a little too loosely to give her a somewhat plunging neckline, and her hair was even more unkempt than it usually was when Astrid had seen her before. If Astrid had to guess, the knocking had woken her up and she'd had to haphazardly cover her most likely naked self before she answered the door. _In Hiccup's apartment._

Astrid was sure she was going red in the face, and the part of her that didn't want to get angry at Hiccup for the picture with Heather had just about disappated. Camicazi was about to say something, but Astrid interrupted her when she said _"where the Hel's Hiccup?! I gotta talk to him!"_

"Oh right, yeah... uh, what time is it? Ugh... shit, that late?" Camicazi turned casually to see the clock on the wall behind her, which indicated that the time was roughly give-or-take 10:30am. She chuckled a bit as she wiped a few loose strands of hair out of her eyes and turned back to face Astrid. "Right, so yeah... Hiccup got up early today, he's at the Sanctuary... or with his parents, I dunno... he told me where he was going, but you know I had a couple drinks last night, and I really don't do drinking well, so..."

_"Ugh, fine. Whatever."_ Astrid snapped dismissively as she turned to go, having now decided that this girl wasn't even worth beating up despite the fury that was currently eating at her. She'd never felt more betrayed, degraded or humiliated in her entire life, and she almost wished Hiccup was here now just so she could shove him and his Bog Burglar whore down these fucking stairs which were too high for a normal person to bother climbing.

"Hey Ast... Ast? Alright just wait a second, okay?" Camicazi reached her hand forward and just got a hold of Astrid's sleeve with her fingers. Astrid was narrowly resisting the temptation to tear this Bog Burglar's arm straight off in retaliation, but she instead yanked her arm away as Camicazi sighed.

_"What? What do you want?"_

"Look, uh... can you just come in? In here?" Camicazi's voice was surprisingly soft as she took a few steps back and pointed her hand into the apartment, specifically towards the couch. "Cause... cause I think we need to talk. Just you and me?"

Astrid didn't give an answer with words, but simply sighed as she pushed past Camicazi and walked into the apartment. This was definitely Hiccup's apartment, since most of the walls had some kind of sci-fi memorabilia hung up on them, mostly Doctor Who and Marvel posters and a couple of statues based on them that she remembered him sculpting in art class when they were younger.

Camicazi closed the front door and headed over to one of two bedrooms, saying "I'll be with you in a sec... just gonna get changed... sit down, though..."

The door to the bedroom was slightly ajar so Astrid could vaguely see the silhouette of Camicazi removing the gown and fishing through the closet for some clothes to put on. Not wanting to make that much of a scene, since her priority was Hiccup, Astrid went to the centre of the living room where there were two couches, and she silently sat on one of them with her legs crossed as she waited for the talk to start and finish so she could leave.

On the coffee table that separated the two couches there were a few empty bottles and a bright purple bong that still had a hint of smoke on it. These probably wasn't Hiccup's, but if Astrid seemed to have learned anything over the last twelve hours it may have been that Hiccup wasn't quite as honest or sweet as she always assumed he was.

"Alright, I'm here!"

Camicazi came back in wearing a loose fitting purple crop top and a black skirt, but remained barefoot as she clumsily jumped over the opposite couch and relaxed her entire body back on it like it were a bed with her legs propped up on the armrest. Her right arm was bare but on her left hand she wore a fingerless black glove that covered her right forearm like it was half a sleeve, or a cast or bandage or something. Astrid had seen this under her gown before and even vaguely remembered her wearing this the other times she had seen the girl, but considering what other assets Camicazi clearly didn't mind showing off, her left arm wasn't exactly that noteworthy in comparison.

The little stunt she'd pulled to sit down had caused the messy golden sea of hair to conceal her face, so she quickly brushed it upwards and cleared her throat. She used her arm to quickly wipe away the bong and bottles from the table, an embarrassed little shade of red blush tainting her already rosy cheeks as she looked at an unamused Astrid. If anything, this seemed to confirm that the weed and drinking was indeed her work, not Hiccup's.

As far as Astrid was concerned, this meeting seemed to be an awfully convenient coincidence, Camicazi opening the door and wanting to have a one-on-one talk to her when she was basically half-naked, and even now wearing clothes that made sure her body was still pretty much on full display.

"So, _Ast_... I just wanted to talk to you _alone _here..." Camicazi relaxed back on the couch so she could face Astrid directly. "Mainly because it's about Hiccup... and you and him... you know...?"

Astrid smirked a little as she started to put what seemed to be two and two together. She'd expected this to be the case as soon as she saw the Bog Burglar hanging off of Hiccup and planting a kiss on his face, but Camicazi saying this just about confirmed it. Talking about Hiccup while dressed like that had to have been intentional, an unsubtle attempt to make a lasting impression, to mark her territory against a rival alpha female.

But her uncle's fighting name wasn't Fearless Finn for nothing and he'd certainly passed down the old Hofferson courage to his beloved niece, so Astrid wasn't deterred by this at all. If it was a competition Camicazi wanted, then Astrid could top this easily with a good, well-deserved beating. Being a Bog Burglar, it was likely Cami had experience with her fists and was probably stronger and tougher than her shorter, curvier stature might imply, but Astrid was sure she would be a minor challenge at best. If this short, messy haired little slut thought she could intimidate the Deadly Nadder, she had another thing coming.

"For starters, I just really wanna say _thank you_, Astrid..."

Hold the phone. That was unexpected. Astrid had to take a few seconds to process that. Trash talk in the ring was something she was no stranger to, but that seemed a bit too... _complimentary_. This had to have been some kind of mind game, or reverse psychology, or something.

Realising that her silence was probably going to damn her and give Camicazi some kind of advantage, Astrid cleared her throat, trying to sound smug as she said _"um... thank me? What for?"_

"Well, you know, for... for finally noticing him... romantically, that is..."

This was making even less sense to Astrid, nevertheless she remained calm. _"Um... okay...?"_

"I mean, he... ha ha... he's always had a _crazy_ crush on you... since we were, like, five... it's actually crazy that you guys actually... you know... _happened_. But I am so, _**so**_ happy that it did!"

_"Wait, hap... happy?"_

"Yeah, I'm totally thrilled!" Camicazi's voice now sounded less sultry and almost like an excited fangirl. "I mean, seriously, ever since he told me about you I was hoping, basically praying, that you'd get together! It's fucking fantastic!"

Astrid was far more caught off-guard about this. The realisation that Camicazi may not have been the threat she initially perceived her to be felt like a ton of bricks being dropped on her. Nevertheless, she had to approach this carefully just to be sure.

_"Um... Cami?"_ she was initially reluctant to use the nickname Hiccup usually said to this girl, since they probably weren't in the area of "friends" yet.

Despite this, Cami remained happy as she said "yep, what is it?"

_"Did you and Hiccup ever... um... ugh..."_ Her words trailed away, as if she could not find what she needed to finish her sentence. Why the Hel would she even ask a question like this? She could have at least worded it differently.

Cami rolled over onto her side on the couch, propping her elbow on the pillow and resting her head on her hand. "Did me and Hiccup ever what?"

_"Never mind. Doesn't matter. I just..."_

"Yeah, I'm not stupid. I know what you're asking, Ast. And no. See Hiccup and I have been pals for ages, but he... he's not really my type in that area."

_"Hmm... well why not?"_

"Eh... I guess it's a Bog Burglar thing... girls are better than boys, and they always have been."

_"Huh... okay... uh, well... yeah, great..."_ Astrid was still putting in more of an effort to try sounding calm and friendly, but she was also internally kicking herself for how angry she'd been all night, as well as every time she'd ever seen Cami in the past and tried to avoid her. Though it seemed there were no hard feelings on Cami's side, so that was at least a sincere relief.

"Seriously, Astrid. I can't think of anyone better than you for Hiccup. And he needs..." Cami paused, pinching the bridge of her nose to think. After a groan, she looked back and continued while she rubbed her right forearm. "He needs someone who's not gonna let him down... and he... ugh... look Ast, he's told me what you did at that party... and what you said to him after..."

_"Wait, I said... what do you... oh shit..."_ Astrid flopped back almost lifelessly on the couch as her mind traced itself back to that night after Gustav's party, and finally settled on the exact memory of what she'd said to him the day after. It hit her like a sledgehammer, and she was almost frozen with shock as it made it's impact.

* * *

**Two-And-A-Half Years Earlier**

_"I__f I wasn't pissed out of my mind by all that booze I'd have stopped everything and gone to bed, no questions asked... __really dodged a bullet there, huh? __I mean, seriously... I'm actually, like, disappointed in myself just for the thought of it... I am genuinely embarrassed just to think that I could have done that."_

"Emba... embarrassed?"

_"Yeah, no joke, I mean... g__ods, you know, just... just thinking about what I did and what I almost did now just makes me wanna throw up again... ha ha..."_

"Right... right... I um... I gotta, you know... get to class, so..."

_"What? Already?"_

"Yeah, yeah cause, um... cause I have to uh... I have to help... someone, with uh... something... see you round..."

* * *

"So, uh... what did you wanna talk to him about?" Cami's voice suddenly snapped Astrid back to reality, prompting her to shake her head briefly as she looked back to the grinning Bog Burglar.

_"Um... should I be honest?"_ Astrid looked back at her nervously as Cami grinned with a nod. She groaned, before saying _"fine, I... I saw that uh... that picture he took with Heather a couple days ago."_

"Oh right, Heather the Unhinged... the one who broke your nose?"

_"Um... ugh... yeah."_

"So... you're here to get mad at him over a picture?"

**_"What?!"_** Astrid immediately straightened up again when she'd just started to relax back on the couch, almost stuttering as her hands nervously gripped her kneecaps. _"No... no, I never said I was gonna get mad, I just..."_

"Gods, that's fricking psycho, Ast..."

_"No, it's not psycho... I mean... ugh... what, am I not supposed to be protective of my fucking boyfriend? I never called him out when I saw him with you, and I... oh shit..."_

"I'm sorry?"

_"Nothing. I was just saying something... dumb..."_ Astrid crossed her arms and looked away again, but she knew that she'd said far too much already and Cami's wide eyes were indicating that she had already caught on.

"Wait, you... you thought that... ugh, seriously? You thought that I... that I was trying to... come between you and... oh... oh... wow that explains so... oh-ho, gods no! **Oh a-ha-ha-ha!**"

_"Alright-alright, I get it... it's not that funny."_ Astrid pettily muttered under her breath as Cami rolled back laughing hysterically, with tears streaming down her eyes as she tried in vain to pull herself back up on the couch.

"Aw man, that... that's fucking hilarious, man... gods, a real gem... wow, just... hoo..." Cami brushed her hair aside again as she calmed down and looked at Astrid again. "Okay, listen Ast, that attitude is the first thing that's gotta go if you and Hiccup are gonna work properly..."

_"What attitude?"_

"You're Hiccup's girlfriend, I get it. Alright trust me, I was shipping you two for years, but... just because you're his girlfriend doesn't mean he can't have friends who are girls... that's just insane, demented and, to be totally frank... stupid."

_"Yeah... yeah, that was pretty fucked up, now that I think about it..."_ Astrid blushed a little as she covered her mouth with her fist.

"Yeah, it was. Hiccup's not that kind of guy... and you don't have to be that kind of gal either... if you can commit to this the same way he will, you guys are gonna do great together, trust me."

_"Hmm..."_ Astrid grinned a little as she straightened up, now feeling much better about Cami, Hiccup and herself than she had when she first arrived here. _"You know, I... I gotta admit Cam. You are not the person I was expecting to get a pep talk from about this."_

"Well that's the thing about us Bog Burglars, Nad... we're full of surprises."


	14. Apology

**The Hidden World Animal Sanctuary - 12:35pm**

**"Oh fuck me!"** Hiccup wailed out with his hands to his face as he rested the back of his head against the wall behind him. **"Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-FUCK!"**

Mala sighed as she nonchalantly flicked through her phone. _"Hiccup, it's not that big a deal..."_

**"Of course it's that big a deal!"** he snapped back. **"You think I'd have taken that picture if I knew about Heather and Astrid?! Gods, she's gonna fucking kill me!"**

_"Oh you don't know that."_

"I do know that."

_"No, you actually don't..."_

"No, actually, I do."

**_"No you don't! __Hiccup, it was a picture."_**

"I know, I know, it's just... ugh... she's gonna think I'm, like, spiting her or something... or that maybe Heather is... maybe if I just straight up say sorry, she won't be as mad?"

_"Hiccup, for fuck's sake, just..."_

"Mala, how are you so calm about this?!"

_"Hiccup, why are you overreacting about this?"_

"What do you mean why? You know what happened to her uncle..."

_"I do, and I know she's been bitter for no reason at my soon-to-be sister-in-law ever since."_ Mala snarked. _"I'd say you just tell it straight to her. Tell her that it's a photo, nothing more, and if she's still mad, well... I don't think it's a relationship worth continuing. It's your apartment you'll be in anyway, so just chuck her out."_

_"Great pep talk, Mal."_ he said sarcastically. _"Really great..."_

* * *

**Hiccup's Apartment - 20:53pm**

Astrid had arrived about seven, wearing a blue sweater over a tight red sleeveless shirt and a brown skirt over black leggings with a few applications of makeup on her face, while Hiccup was still wearing the same simple green shirt he'd been wearing all day. They'd both eaten already, so all they had been doing since she arrived was sitting together on the couch watching TV. Cami wasn't there, so it was just the pair of them, and since there wasn't anything that interesting on the TV they mostly just sat and chatted.

The conversation eventually got to Astrid's career, and then to the injuries she'd sustained over it, which eventually led to Astrid taking off her sweater to show a few of them to him.

_"You remember this one?"_ she said as she flexed one of her arms and pointed to the thin red scar on her bicep.

Hiccup stared at it for a few moments, before saying "oh! Oh yeah, I do! From the uh... the barbed wire, right?"

_"Yep, that's the one. Weapons match. Day I asked you out."_ she smirked, before lifting a corner of her shirt just to expose three smaller marks that started next to her belly button and led to the end of her right hip. _"And this one's actually not an official fight, but from when I was fighting Ruff in that Pizza Hut last year."_

"Ooh... man, that looks pretty bad, Astrid..."

_"Eh, it's fine. I probably did way worse to her, trust me."_ she chuckled a bit as she let go of this corner and then pulled the shirt down a bit at her neckline.

"Wait Astrid, what are you doing with your...?!"

_"Showing you this."_ she turned around and pulled the shirt down there, causing Hiccup to go wide-eyed as he saw the longer, thicker scar that went from the top of her spine right across and down her left shoulder blade.

_"This was from a weapons match against Thuggory the Meathead. I tried to hit him with a barbed wire bat, but I swung it back too far and it just... **RRRIIIP!** You know, it just... pulled a huge tear across my back... ha ha... your Mom nearly fainted when she saw it for the first time..."_

"Did it hurt?"

_"Nah... well yeah, it did, but... it's really not as bad as it looks. It looked a lot worse when it happened, ha ha..._" Astrid brushed her bangs out of her face and pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked at Hiccup again. Her voice was higher-pitched and more restrained since when she held her nose, saying _"and you probably won't be able to tell at first glance, but... my nose is actually not fully aligned right..."_

"Huh... let me look...?" he leaned a little closer to see the angle of the bridge, analysing it for a few moments before raising a brow. "Hmm... I gotta be honest, I still can't..."

_"Yeah, it's close enough to not notice, but..."_ Astrid let go of her nose with a smirk. _"It's definitely not the same. Happened when Heather the Unhinged sent an elbow into my face. Right before I first bumped into you, actually..."_

"Hmm... right." Hiccup shuffled a little away from her as she relaxed back on the couch. "Astrid... I have something to tell you."

_"Yeah."_ she said nonchalantly as he went wide-eyed. _"I saw it."_

"Saw what?"

_"The picture with Heather, Hiccup. I saw it."_

"Oh shit." Hiccup had his hand on his forehead. "Astrid, I... I'm really sorry. It's nothing, really, we just bumped into each other that day, she's a fan of my vlogs and I really don't think she knew about... this... so... ugh, look I know I shouldn't be making excuses or whatever, but I..."

_"No, Hiccup, you don't need to... ugh..."_ she gently had a hand on his shoulder. _"Alright... I'm the one who should be sorry."_

"Wait, what?"

_"Yeah, it's me, Hiccup."_ Astrid sighed. _"Look, I came over here and talked to Cami today."_

"Oh gods, did you?"

_"Hmm, yeah..."_ she grinned as she looked away from him for a moment. _"So it turns out, I misjudged her. Really, really bad... but... we talked about the picture and I... well, she made me realise what a fucking cunt I've been to you."_

"Whoa, okay, let's not go that far..." Hiccup clearly didn't like the sound of the C-word, especially when it came out of Astrid's mouth, but he cleared his throat again. "Astrid, it... it was my fault, I mean I... if I'd known you and Heather hated each other I probably wouldn't have taken it with her."

_"No but... ugh, well I appreciate that, but... but that's not the point, Hiccup, I... I really want this relationship to work, I really do, but I don't wanna be this... this possessive, psycho girlfriend who, like, tells you what to wear, or... or tells who you can and can't be friends with. I don't want you to be afraid of me."_

"What? No, come on... Ast, Astrid, I'm not afraid of..."

_"Yes. You were, Hiccup, and you have been ever since I bumped into you at the hospital that day. I could tell. I could always tell."_ She reached for his hand and gently took it. _"But that's on me."_

"Astrid, I..."

_"I was stupid to jump to conclusions. I know that I can trust you, Hiccup, and I can learn to. And I want you to know that you can trust me too. Alright, I'll... I'll never hit you, or hurt you or blackmail you, or anything like that... and I know that's not usually something you have to promise somebody, but I would never even think about doing something like that to you."_

She shuffled a little closer to him, slowly but eventually clasping his hand fully in her own. _"And Hiccup, I... I'm not embarrassed by you."_

"What? Who uh... whoever said you..."

_"I did. Back in high school. That stupid party, when I was shit-faced and you walked me home and I..."_ Astrid put a hand over her eyebrow as if she were trying to stop herself from making eye contact with him. _"And... I kissed you..."_

"Oh... oh right... well, you know I probably shouldn't have shut you away when you..."

_"Hiccup, it's my fault, not yours. I should have worded it different, I know... and I know it's the reason we didn't talk after graduation. And I know it's why you're so on edge with me now. And I know it's why you've tried everything you can to discourage me from furthering the relationship... telling me you wanna keep it secret, and stuff like that..."_

She felt herself tearing up a bit and had to shuffle to stop it, but her voice was still strained a little by it as a single drop streamed from her eye to her cheek. She cupped his face with one hand and gently turned him to face her. _"Hiccup, I... I'm sorry I said that to you, if I'd just..."_

"Oh come on, Astrid, I get it, it's okay... I was... well, I'm still not exactly what someone like you oughta be looking for in a..."

**_"No!"_** her grip on his hand tightened and he tensed a little again. _"Hiccup, please... please don't deprecate yourself like that. I was... I was embarrassed at myself, I was embarrassed by being drunk, about the... vomiting on the fucking couch, I... ha-ha... Hiccup, we both know I'm shit with alcohol!"_

Her eyes were sparking particularly bright tonight, especially with the added sheen given to them by the threat of tears.

_"I wasn't embarrassed by you, I'd never be... you are the most creative, wonderful person I've ever known. I just... I never even thought about how I sounded saying it and I... I was so stupid to not apologise sooner, and... and when we graduated I went off with BMCA and I... and I left you behind... I didn't mean to, and I shouldn't have but... but we're here now, and... oh gods..."_

She let go of his arm and put her hands together as she groaned. _"Hiccup, I... I should never have forced you into this... this whole relationship... from the second I saw you outside your Mom's office, I know you didn't want this and I never should have made you... you're not a belt, I get it, you... you should make your own choices. And if you wanna just stay friends with me, then..."_

"No, but... Astrid, you didn't force me into anything." she looked back at him as he said this, letting his hand rest on her shoulder. He tried his best to keep his eyes connected with her own as he continued. "Astrid... I've had a crush on you for as long as I can remember. Being in a relationship with you, especially when you're the one who asked me, is pretty much one of the greatest things I could ever have asked for... granted, I always thought it was a pipe dream, because you've always been so strong, independent and beautiful, and... well, I'm _me_, so... you know..."

_"Hmm... and what's wrong with that...?"_ Astrid shuffled back around to face him directly again as they kept staring at each other silently. _"You're more than good enough for me, Hiccup... trust me, I know..."_

Neither was entirely sure who actually initiated the kiss that followed, and it was virtually impossible to tell since they both went for it within milliseconds of one another. The kissing got more passionate, almost provocative, as Astrid eventually got Hiccup laying back on the couch while she shuffled the rest of her body up against his as she continued latching their lips together.

**_DINK!_**

_"Ow, fuck!"_ she grunted as she felt something rough lightly hit her shin, both of them looking down to see what it was. He was just as surprised as she was, sounding worried as he said "what's up?"

_"Shit. Um... ha ha, it was the uh... you know..."_ Astrid awkwardly pointed down to the metal prosthetic that was hanging off Hiccup's shin as he went wide-eyed with a bright shade of blushing red on his face.

"Oh gods!" Hiccup pulled away shamefully from her and shuffled himself over to the other side of the couch. _"Hiccup...?"_

"Shit... shit-shit-shit... this was a bad idea. I... I should have taken this fucking thing off cause now you're thinking about it, and..."

_"Hiccup..."_

"And I'm gonna be thinking about it too, and it's gonna be really distracting, and..."

**_"Hiccup!"_**

Astrid interrupted a little louder as Hiccup stopped rambling, looking up at her as a small grin crossed her face and she gently caressed the side of his face with the back of her hand. She kept eye contact with him as her other hand slowly made it's way down to his prosthetic, unhooking it from his leg and dropping it on the floor.

_"It's okay. The leg doesn't bother me."_

He opened his mouth to say something, but she gently put her hand over his lips and made him sit back against the couch with her smirk having grown into a smile. She then cupped the side of his face and held it up to gently place her lips on his, waiting for him to return the kiss before sitting herself on top of his groin as she made him lay back on the couch.

"Ast... Astrid..." she immediately let him go and looked down at Hiccup with a concerned look on her face.

_"Yeah? What is it?"_

"Are you absolutely sure about this? I mean, last time you..."

_"Hiccup."_ she gently spoke, almost like a whisper as she leaned back into him. _"The only thing I was embarrassed about trying this last time was the fact that I was too drunk to appreciate it."_

"Hmm... okay?" Hiccup let her kiss him again as he gently put his hands on her hips. "Um... Astrid?"

She almost laughed as he interrupted their session again, letting her forehead rest on his as she said _"yes, Hiccup?"_

"I think I'm in love with you."

_"Hmm... yeah... me too. You, that is... I'm not in love with myself, obviously... it... it's you."_

"Oh right, sure... really?"

_"Yeah. I am, Hiccup. I'm in love with you too."_

"Well, uh... that's a win-win scenario, I guess?" he was caught off guard when she grabbed his collar and planted her lips on his, having held back for long enough now. They were both breathless when she finally separated, but Hiccup was the first to let a little grin cross his face as Astrid brushed his hair out of his face with a grin on her own.

_"You'd better believe it."_


	15. Night Terror

**_"Oswald the Antagonistic is clearly not going to be in shape to continue much longer, and Fearless Finn knows it. He's made it known that he intends to keep his title as undefeated champ, and it seems another victory is in the bag. Oh! And down goes Oswald again... hmm, it looks like Fearless Finn is ready to wrap things up here... oh, and he's climbing the ropes as well, which can only mean one thing, folks... the Fearless Four-Fifty!"_**

_"Yeah! Come on, Uncle Finn!"_

**_"A slip, oh my... OH! Oh, good gods, a terrible miscalculation on Fearless Finn's part! Great Odin's ghost, that's gotta hurt... oh no... we've just received reports that the medics are on their way to the ring... Oswald's getting up... he looks just as shocked as the rest of us... how the Hel did Fearless Finn mess up his signature finisher so badly?"_**

_"Uncle Finn? Uncle Finn!"_

**_"What was supposed to be a moment of victory has turned tragic here today, folks, as we await to hear about Fearless Finn's condition... but sad to say it isn't looking good... after such a devastating accident, we can only hope that this match today was not his last."_**

* * *

**"AAAGGGHHH!"** Astrid jolted awake with her fists up and a high-pitched war-cry bellowing out of her strained lungs. She froze and went silent after about five seconds when she finally processed her surroundings. A few hours had passed since she and Hiccup finally made it official, and it was now sometime in the morning with the window was letting in some golden sunlight to the dark, unlit room.

She was in Hiccup's bedroom, in his bed, her hair was unkempt without it's braid and she was only wearing a Doctor Who shirt and her black panties. Hiccup wasn't there, and it was clear that he'd tried his best to tidy and make the half of the bed that she hadn't been in.

"Astrid?! Oh sh... **ow!** WHOA!" that was his voice coming from somewhere outside the room, and the loud, clattering _**CRASH!**_ that came after it caused Astrid to jolt out of the bed and run out of the bedroom as fast as her feet could carry her, darting across the living room to the messy pile of pots and pans on the kitchen floor.

_"Hiccup! Oh, gods!"_ Astrid quickly ran over to where he'd fallen and got on her knees to check on him, digging him out of the pile of culinary equipment that he'd buried himself in when he fell. _"Man, are... are you okay, babe?"_

"Yeah... yeah I'm fine, I just... I was just getting a pan and I heard you, uh... then my leg gave way, and... ugh..." he had his hand pressed hard on one side of his forehead as he groaned, before looking up at her as they both got on their knees. "What uh... what about you? Becuase I... I heard you screaming. You have a night terror or something?"

_"What? Oh, um... yeah, some... something like that... oh..."_ Astrid's eyes widened a bit when she noticed Hiccup was deliberately holding his hand over his face, just above his left eye. He tried to pull back and slap her hand away from touching his, but she took his right hand in hers and comfortingly rubbed her thumb over the back of it as she smiled at him. _"Hiccup... it's okay... let me look..."_

"I'm fine... really, I... ugh..." Hiccup sighed as he let her hand pull his off of his forehead. It revealed a small, purple mark under his right eye where one of the pans had gone directly into his face, as well as the the thin cut it made just above his eyebrow that was now starting to leak a small, slow line of blood down his cheek.

_"Aw... sweetheart..."_ Astrid managed to pull him up with her as she got to her feet, letting him realign his prosthetic after one of the pans knocked it off-balance.

"Astrid I can take care of myself, it's not a big deal, I just..."

_"Hiccup. I want to help you."_ her tone of voice was somehow stern and yet also comforting and almost motherly as she took his hand and brought him over to the living room couch, letting him sit down as she ran over to the bathroom. _"You got a first aid kid, babe?"_

"Astrid, come on, I don't need..."

_"Do you have one or not?"_

Realising that he wasn't going to win this argument regardless, Hiccup simply rolled his eyes with a grin as he said "yeah, it uh... it's in the medicine cabinet..."

_"Right, medicine cabinet... medicine-medicine-medicine, and... ooh, got it!"_ Astrid quickly came back in with the small red case.

It wasn't going to need stitches, just something to keep pressure on it until it stopped bleeding. After she'd cleaned the blood off his face she then got another fist full of the tissues that were there, crumpled them into a small ball and directly pressed it onto his eyebrow. It was undoubtedly going to bruise, especially just under his eye, but they were both sure it'd look alright after a day or two.

She was sitting on his lap while she did this and he just sat back silently, only occassionally wincing a little when she pressed a bit too hard. After about five minutes of this quietness, she took the bloodied tissues away from his face and tossed them into the trash can in the corner, which prompted Hiccup to break the silence.

"So, I uh... I heard you talking last night..."

_"Talking?"_

"Well, not really talking, just... mumbling... you know, in your sleep..."

_"Hmm... what was I talking about?"_

"Don't really know." Hiccup tried to look away from her, indicating that he wasn't being entirely truthful.

_"Hiccup?"_

"Uh... yeah? What?"

_"Was it about my Uncle?"_

"Oh, uh..." Hiccup cleared his throat a bit, clearly unsure what to answer as he stammered and stuttered for a moment. He had one eye tensed a bit as if he were expecting her to react badly. "Um... maybe, I guess..."

_"Yeah... thought so."_ her voice seemed dejected as she tilted her head away a few degrees, almost embarrassed, but it wasn't as angry as he appeared to have assumed it would have been.

"I'm gonna guess you don't wanna talk about it... I mean, not that I want you to, but... it's your choice. Obviously."

_"Hmm... well, I don't really want to, no... but... whatever..."_ she turned back to him with a smile as she let him lay back on the couch before sitting down on his lap, relaxing her head just under his chin with her hand reaching behind his back to rest on his shoulder. He put his arm against her back to keep her propped up in this position. _"I appreciate the offer, though..."_

"For you, Milady... anything." Hiccup gave her a kiss on the forehead as Astrid brought her hand off his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist as they both relaxed completely with their eyes closed.

"Aw... isn't that sweet?" Cami's voice prompted them both to almost jump out of their skins, Hiccup barely grabbing Astrid so she didn't fall face-first onto the coffee table while he jolted upwards. They were both panting heavily as Hiccup lowered Astrid back onto her feet and they both looked to see the Bog Burglar girl standing in the doorway of her room, wearing a stylish coat, skirt and heels as if she'd come back from a night out.

_"Cam? How, uh..."_ Astrid rubbed her eyes with her forearm, trying to hold a couch pillow over her lower half as she struggled to find her words. _"How long have you been standing there?"_

"Hmm... since about a minute before the point where you screamed and Hiccup got buried alive. I was gonna say something but... hey, you guys are a really cute couple, so... whatever, right?"

"I take it by the outfit that you've been somewhere, Cam?" Hiccup smirked almost mischievously.

"Yeah. Well, I have some news."

**"What news?"** Hiccup and Astrid both asked in-sync.

"What? Nothing bad, it just... okay, so... as you know, Hiccup, for the past two years, I've been, uh... well, simply put, I've been seeing someone. And we've been thinking about committing a little more for some time, but after seeing you guys finally did the uh... the you-know-what... I decided to take the plunge and... well, ha-ha... look for yourselves..."

Cami had a warm little smile on her face as she showed them her left hand, particularly emphasising the small, emerald diamond of the ring that was on her finger.

**"Wait, you got... you guys got engaged?!"**

"Yep. I proposed last night. We've not thought about a time or date yet, but... fuck it, right? Live a little!"

**"Aw, Cami! Congratulations!"** Hiccup shot over to her and wrapped her in a hug which she tightened to the point that she was basically squeezing the life out of him. Astrid was grinning with her arms crossed even after Cami released him, letting Hiccup sit back down as he breathlessly held his crushed stomach.

_"So..."_ Astrid looked at Cami with a brow raised. _"What's the lucky fella's name?"_

"Oh... Alice."

_"Alice?"_

Astrid glanced towards Hiccup for a split second, with his worried-yet-also-not-surprised face indicating that he'd forgotten to disclose a certain detail about Cami with her. She definitely wouldn't have had a problem with what this name was implying, but he probably should have told her before she was taken off-guard like she'd just been. Nevertheless, she had to be careful when making sure she assumed correctly.

_"So... Alice, as in... Alice Cooper or like... Alice in Wonderland?"_

Cami rolled her eyes with a casual, unoffended chuckle, keeping her grin as she said "I know what you're trying to say, Nad, and yes. Alice _is_ a woman."

_"Oh, right... I mean... well, to be honest I kinda suspected it, but..."_ Astrid went wide-eyed as she realised what she'd just said. _"Shit, no, uh... suspect's the wrong word, I... I had a feeling, you were a... you know, but I wasn't that sure til then... still, I'm thrilled for you, Cami. Thrilled for you both, and... and the fact that you're going for a wedding despite all the... stuff, is... amazing, fantastic. Really, just... congrats."_

"Thanks, Ast... so I'm gonna assume it was the whole girls are better than boys thing from yesterday that gave me away?" Cami smirked confidently as Astrid nodded with a frantic, awkward little smile. "Right... so, seeing that it's half eleven, are you guys actually gonna get off your asses and do anything today or should I just crack out my drug stash for you?"


	16. Challenges

**Eighteen Months Later**

**_"And I'm here with tonight's victor now, so um... well, to start off with, congratulations on your win tonight, Miss Thorston."_**

_"Yeah. Thanks dude."_

**_"They say you did a number on old Thuggory tonight, Ruff. Do you reckon the fight was too easy?"_**

_"Nah, there's not a scratch on me. I was never hurt or anything, just glad to be the winner, that's all! YEAH!"_

**_"Well it's good to see you're in such happy spirits. So this might be a little soon, but do you have anyone idea who you'd like to issue a challenge to next?"_**

_"Yeah. Yeah I do. I want The Deadly Nadder to get in this ring with me so I can finish what I started at Pizza Hut!"_

**_"Miss Thorston, can you please not take my micropho..."_**

_"You'll get it back in a minute. Hey! You hear that, Astrid? I'm calling you out, bitch! Fuck, yeah! You and your cat vlogger can stop dancing around my guy's calls because I'm making this public! So what's it gonna be?!"_

**_"Um... Miss Thorston?"_**

_"What do you say you and me get in here and we show 'em who the real champ is? Huh? Woman to woman? Reckon it's about time you start dragging your own weight instead of leaching off your fucking Uncle's work! Maybe I'll put you in the fucking ground with him! Ha ha! I'm a call away, so let's fucking do it, cunt! Wait... crap, am I allowed to curse on this channel?"_

**_"As a matter of fact, we're just inside our programme's watershed time, so I think you're alright."_**

_"Great, so I guess that's it, then?"_

**_"I believe so, well um... I suppose you ought to have a good night, Miss Thorston."_**

_"Yeah sure, anytime..."_

**_"Well there you have it. Just over two years since their infamous public brawl, Ruffnut Thorston has finally issued an official challenge to Astrid "The Deadly Nadder" Hofferson. I'm sure we'll all be excited to hear what Miss Hofferson has to say to that."_**

* * *

**The Next Morning**

**_"Oof!"_** Astrid was still getting used to letting Valka wrap her into a bone-crushing hug every time she came and visited her at the hospital. When Valka finally released her Astrid had to lean back against the side of the operating table with her hand over her stomach to regain her breath, as usual.

_"You know... I reckon Hiccup oughta train me to cope with your hugs because I don't think my insides can take much more of this..."_ she wheezed out as they both laughed.

"I doubt he'll be any better, ha ha... so... how's everything with the pair of you this week then?" Valka smirked almost mischievously as she went to get something from her desk.

_"Good. Well, great, actually... um, so uh... ooh, Hiccup got that new logo finished..."_

"Oh aye, for the sanctuary?"

_"Yeah, the Furies one... Cam's gonna be scanning it tomorrow."_

"Ah, grand... yeah, that's... that's lovely... what about your uh... you know... _work_."

_"Oh. That uh... that's fine too."_ Astrid cleared her throat and looked slightly away from Valka as she brushed her bangs out of her face. _"There's that charity thing tomorrow night. Hiccup's not going, but that's fine, I'll just... whatever, business is business, I guess... normal."_

Valka nodded, but her tone clearly indicated that she and Astrid both knew something was up. "Well, I um... Stoick and I saw that Ruffnut girl's interview, last night. What she said about you..."

_"Uh-huh."_

"And...?"

_"What? And what?"_

"Well, I just thought you... I dunno, you might want to talk to me about it."

_"Well what's there to talk about? Really?"_ Astrid rubbed her arm and tried to look away again when she noticed Valka's face droop a bit, clearly being worried by Astrid's apparent dismissal of her concern. _"I mean, I... I'm not gonna take it, if that's what you're thinking, Val."_

"Oh... oh right..." Valka's grin came back as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Have to admit, you... you had me worried there..."

_"Nah... what'd even be the point? She and her dipshit brother are a fucking embarrassment to the sport anyway, cause..."_ Astrid relaxed a bit more with a sigh of relief. _"I'm not even kidding, Val... I'd rather binge-watch those gods-awful Transformer movies than get in the ring with either of those two..."_

"But I thought you liked that one you and Hiccup went to see..."

_"I meant the old ones. Hiccup says that one's like a... reboot, or something... but whatever, point is... I'm not gonna take the fight... yeah, I know Ruff's probably gonna dog me about this for the rest of our lives, but... but what else is new, right?"_

"Aye, that's the spirit. It's really not worth it, dear. And neither's she..." Valka smiled warmly as she put her hand on Astrid's shoulder, using her other hand to pull Astrid's chin up so that they were facing each other. "Matter of fact, I reckon she's a bit of a pushover anyway."

_"Yeah. Yeah, sure..."_ Astrid gulped after a moment of hesitation before nodding with a smile.

"So how about we talk about something a bit more interesting... how about the wedding last week?"

Astrid bit her bottom lip with a grin as a small blush tinted her cheeks. _"What about it?"_

"Oh come on now, Astrid... we all saw you catch it... you shoulder barged that poor girl into the fountain when you did, for Thor's sake... nobody missed it."

_"Gods... don't remind me about that..."_

They both chuckled at this as Valka took her hands away from Astrid and grabbed another utensil from the desk. "So... you reckon Hiccup's thinking of acting on it?"

_"Well... who knows? I mean... uh... well..."_ Astrid itched the back of her head and stopped for a moment to think. _"Nah... I mean, it'd be nice, sure, but I don't wanna make him think he has to do it... but to be honest, he... well... he's probably forgotten about it already... besides, I can't exactly compete with Toothless, can I?"_

"Eh. I wouldn't be so sure about that, dear."

* * *

**The Next Night**

_"Astrid. I think we need to talk..."_ Hiccup reached into his pocket to pull out the small, black box, fumbling it clumsily in his hands as he cleared his throat and tried to stand up straight.

_"So... how do I put this? Uh... Astrid, I... I love you. I mean, I do... I really do. More than anything in the world. And I'd do anything for you milady, ha ha... so..."_ he bent down a little as he said this, putting one hand on the handle of the chair while popping the box open with the one behind his back.

_"Yeah, okay so I've been thinking about this ever since you caught Alice's bouquet, and gods, you looked great that day... I mean, you look great everyday, but... but that's off topic... hmm... I can safely say that there's no other person in this archipelago or this world who I'd rather spend the rest of my life with..."_

He took a deep breath, before getting himself onto one knee and pulling the box from behind his back, holding it up as he added _"so, I just want to ask you, Astrid... um... well, would you wanna... hmm... Astrid Hofferson, will you marry me?"_

After about half of minute of silence, Hiccup rolled his eyes as he closed the box, standing up from the empty chair he'd been talking to and putting the box back in his pocket. _"Ugh... this is so fucking stupid..."_

He'd spent the majority of the evening rehearsing, and had proposed to everything ranging from his laptop to his television to the small Captain Phasma statue he had placed above his bed. Astrid was going to her own apartment after her appointment at the charity event that night, so he was absolutely free to do whatever he wanted unless Cami were to come over unexpectedly. Though ever since she and Alice had tied the knot and moved in together, Cami's late-night visits were becoming less and less frequent, though she and her partner would still come to borrow Hiccup's bathroom whenever the landlord switched off their water.

Having decided that he'd proposed to enough inanimate objects, Hiccup put the ring back in the Tardis shaped box under his bed. Astrid had looked under the bed and come across this box about three times since he'd put it there, and every time Hiccup was sure that he'd embarrassed himself running into the room to stop her from finding what was in it and coming to the wrong conclusion.

_"It's not time yet..."_ he muttered to himself as he nodded and scratched the back of his head, exhaling heavily as he looked up at the television, which was showing the start of the BMCA event where Astrid currently was. _"Yeah... not time yet."_


	17. Coercion

**BMCA Fundraiser Event**

"I'll take a Bloody Mary... thanks."

The barman nodded and went to work looking for the ingredients as Astrid sat on the stool and buried her face in her palm with a groan. For the last two hours she'd just been standing here on the upper level of the venue, occasionally grabbing a glass of champagne for herself whenever a waiter or waitress passed by with it.

Perhaps it was because of Gustav's party all those years ago, or maybe she just grew out of it, but Astrid no longer considered herself to be a party person. She'd almost considered not coming to this one at all, especially without Hiccup to keep her company, but had eventually managed to convince herself that she had to do it, being for a good cause and all.

But she'd regretted it since the moment she entered the venue. She'd barely spoken to anyone outside of a half-assed interview about the importance of what they were doing there, and any attempts at small talk she'd made lasted less than a minute. To make matters worse, the red high-neck dress she had on was practically crushing the life out of her with how agonisingly tight it was, and it was inches away from strangling her as well. Yet she still felt like one of the least attractive women in the room.

From where she was standing Astrid could see the twins on the lower dance floor, socialising with Snotlout and the others and having a good time. Ruffnut had her hair done nicer than usual and wearing a tight black dress with a plunging neckline, and Astrid assumed that this was an attempt to embarrass or intimidate her after that challenge. Ruffnut was also drunk out of her mind and had made out with at least five different people, two of which were other women. That being said, a part of Astrid was relieved that the twins hadn't made any attempt to approach her about Ruffnut's challenge from the night before, while the more sober part of her mind remained _paranoid_ that they'd come any moment to say something to her.

It took her a few moments of searching with her eyes, but she eventually spotted Heather near the stairs talking to a few of the commentators and producers. As Astrid had expected, Heather's green dress was also a lot more revealing than her own, though she at least seemed to have had a little more self-respect than Ruffnut had. Fishlegs wasn't there either, so at the very least Astrid could appreciate the fact that she wasn't the only one that had come alone. She and Heather had barely made eye contact since their first fight, but Astrid was fairly confident that her dislike of Oswald's daughter was now just about mutual.

_"You're looking a little lonesome tonight, Miss Astrid."_ a slimy yet familiar voice spoke up from behind her as Astrid groaned.

"Oh gods..."

The voice belonged to none other than Johann Trader, the most unscrupulous promoter and manager in recent BMCA history, if not the entirety of BMCA history. A smug, bearded, money-grubbing parasite of a man, Johann had quite the reputation, and it was far from a positive one. He usually had to settle for those one may see as the scum of BMCA, the dirty fighters, the ones that always got in trouble in and out of the ring, since no one with actual integrity would bother to associate with him.

Additionally, though it'd never been proven, Astrid was a firm believer in the sexual assault allegations two of Johann's former clients had made against him, before he coerced them into signing a dreaded NDA and disappearing. But she knew he wouldn't dare try that with her, as her nickname was clearly not "The Deadly Nadder" for no reason and she wouldn't hold back on him if he did.

That being said, she was also fully aware of the main reason that why he was talking to her now. The same reason he'd been calling and emailing Sven for the last two years. His number one client.

_"So..." _he said._ "I'm going to assume you heard about Miss Ruffnut's little... offer?"_

"It's not an offer, dickhead, it's a challenge." Astrid didn't turn to face him, simply keeping her eyes on the barman as she said "hey, uh... what's the ETA on that Bloody Mary?"

_"Well, call what she said whatever you want. I thought of it as quite generous."_ Johann awkwardly sat on the stool next to Astrid. _"A no-rules weapons match is quite the test of mettle. A good chance for a reigning champion, such as yourself, to prove that she deserves her postion... and she's not leaching off the legacy of a certain dead relative."_

"Oh, I'm sure it is. But I think you and I both know that I wouldn't be caught dead in a ring with that half-bred nitwit you call Ruffnut Thorston. Waste your own time, Johann, not mine." Astrid smugly said this as the barman finally served her Bloody Mary and she stood up from the stool and turned to walk away.

_"Well you have to face the facts, Miss Astrid... your social media life's had quite the chain of events, has it not?"_ she froze as Johann said this, and turned back around to face him.

"Come again...?"

Johann had always been full of shit. Astrid knew that much, and had seen and heard enough about him to know for certain. When clients didn't agree to his terms on a whim, he always resorted to this petty blackmail, usually regarding unearthed sex-tapes or politically incorrect tweets to coerce them into his hands. Seeing that Astrid never had any social media accounts, partially for this exact reason, all she could let out in response to his outlandish claim was an almost amused scoff.

Despite this, Johann was not deterred, a little grin crossing his bearded face again as he opened his phone. From the glance she got at the screen, Astrid recognised the Berserker Skrill logo of Heather's Instagram. Heather wasn't represented by him, since it seemed the one thing she and Astrid seemed to agree on was that Johann was the biggest crook in the business, so it didn't make much sense to bring her into this. Or so it seemed.

_"One thing I found especially interesting was from last Valentine's Day... your boyfriend from that Hidden World place took a picture with your old rival, Heather The Unhinged, the same day in fact when his relationship with you went public..."_

Wow. He was really resorting to this. Astrid rolled her eyes. Admittedly, if he'd tried this when it had just happened she'd have probably been dragged into it, but it was cleared up now, and he had no power to use it.

"So what? It's just a picture, for Thor's sake..." Astrid sounded confident as Cami's words came back to her, taking an arrogant swig of her drink before she continued. "Just because I'm his girlfriend doesn't mean he can't have friends that are girls... get with the times, Johann..."

_"Oh I agree, I agree..."_ as Johann swiped his finger across the phone, Astrid got a glance at Hiccup's Night and Light Fury Yin-Yang symbol. Which also happened to be his new logo for the Sanctuary's YouTube channel.

_"I suppose it was nothing more than a silly little coincidence that __the first video he posted after you told us about your... sleeping arrangements... just happened to show the aftermath he'd suffered from an unspecified frying pan accident..."_

"Johann..." Astrid's voice was deadly serious as she turned to glare at him, knowing exactly what "aftermath" he was referring to. "What are you implying...?"

_"Well knowing myself to be a nice person, I'm not one to level accusations, Miss Hofferson... but that is remarkable timing... not to mention that big ugly bruise under his right eye looks like it really, really hurt... just saying, it's quite the coincidence."_

"It _was_ a coincidence." she snapped. "That's all it was, and you know it."

_"Oh of course, of course."_ Johann had a sarcastic, faux-encouraging tone in his voice. _"Still, it'd be a terrible shame if some nasty little rumours were to spread, and everyone were to come to the wrong conclusion, wouldn't it?"_

Astrid had both her fists clenched and her nostrils flared with fury as her face went red and she stepped back over to him. He remained smug, turning in the stool to face her directly. _"Oh-ho, I imagine that'd be terrible for your reputation... oh, I can just see the comments, the backlash, the blacklisting... but I suppose the boy would benefit from it in the end... he'd deny it all, of course, but imagine all the support he'd get, the interviews, the tributes... the accidental hero, the survivor of a psycho girlfriend..."_

**"**How... fucking... **dare you!"** Astrid seriously thought about punching him in the teeth, tearing the phone out of his hand and smashing it on the floor before shattering her Bloody Mary over his head but, immediately realising that would only help him to publicly paint his intended picture of her, simply resorted to prodding his chest hard with her finger as she ranted. **"Hiccup Haddock is the love of my life! He would never cheat on me or do anything to hurt me, and I'd rather die than even think about doing it to him!"**

_"Ooh... how awfully protective of you, Miss Astrid... if only you were willing to defend your title with such ferocity."_

**"You know what? Fuck it! Fuck you and fuck that callous cunt Ruffnut! You book that fucking fight and I'll show you ferocity! Any time, any place!"** Astrid shoved Johann back hard so that he slammed into the bar behind him. Despite this, he still kept his smug grin as he opened his phone again.

_"Excellent, Miss Astrid... I'll get right on it..."_

**"Fuck. You."** Astrid snapped as she looped her coat over her arm, narrowly resisting the temptation to strangle him with his own beard as she turned around to storm off. As soon as she turned, she collided with someone who'd just come up the stairs and had been heading to the bar. Astrid took the majority of the momentum and fell back, but the other woman quickly grabbed her left arm to pull her up so she didn't hit the floor.

_"Gods, I... I'm so sorry about that, I... oh you gotta be shitting me..."_

**"What the fuck?!"** once she realised who she'd bumped into, Astrid yanked her arm out of Heather's hand and angrily said **"would it kill you to watch where you're fucking going?!"**

_"Hey I said I'm sorry, and you're the one who ran into me. No need to be such a bitch about... **UGH!**"_ Heather staggered back into a chair behind her after Astrid sent a cheap yet forceful fist into her cleavage. She was struggling to breathe due to the shock, wheezing out as she looked at Astrid with a scowl. _"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"_

"You're the one showing them off, slut..." Astrid spitefully pointed at Heather's face as she said this, before throwing on her coat and finally going to the door to leave the venue. Heather groaned as she finally managed to pull herself to her feet, looking to the door where Astrid had gone and muttering under her breath.

_"Fucking cunt."_

* * *

**_KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!_**

"Come on in..." Valka's voice called from the other side of the door, causing Astrid to exhale as she opened it and went into the office.

_"Uh... hey Val..."_

Valka went a little wide eyed as she stood up from her seat. "Astrid? Oh... hello dear, what um... what are you doing here, don't you have your... charity thing?"

_"Yeah, I uh... I just came from it." _Astrid tried to sound casual as she leaned back against the operating table. It technically wasn't true, as she'd actually gone to her apartment to change out of that dress into something more casual first, but that was hardly a detail worth mentioning. _"So you're uh... you're working late tonight?"_

"Eh, not really. Just finishing up. You're visiting a bit late, though..." Valka chuckled under her breath. "Heard Oswald's girl was there tonight. Didn't get into a fight with her again, did you?"

She knew Valka was only joking, and it technically wasn't actually a fight, so Astrid merely answered with a shrug, before clearing her throat and rubbing the bridge of her nose. _"Um... Val?"_

"Yes?" Valka reached to get something from her desk, but she was clearly listening even though she wasn't facing her. Astrid was just about to speak before Valka said "you know, I spoke to Stoick just this morning about Thorston... he thought it wasn't worth it, either... apparently she wants one of those weapons matches, you know... no rules and stuff like that... imagine her in a weapons match? Ha ha... you remember when she and... gods... she and her brother tried to help Stoick and Hiccup build that shed that one time! A-ha-ha-ha! Oh... good times..."

_"Yeah, about that, Val, I... I um... well, I... ugh..."_ Astrid cleared her throat as she stopped leaning and stood up. _"Val, I'm gonna take the fight."_

She could see Valka freeze almost on the spot, and clenching her fists gently as she looked directly at the wall. She turned her head less than ninety degrees to look at Astrid, her voice quiet yet almost aggressive as she spoke. "Thorston?"

Astrid nodded silently, prompting Valka to nod in return as she pinched the bridge of her nose but continued facing away. She stayed there for another moment or two, before finally letting out a sigh as she turned back around. "Astrid... why?"

_"You saw the news, you saw them talking shit about me... they've been talking about Hiccup too... and about... and about Uncle Finn."_

Valka wasn't convinced by this, not even looking Astrid in the eye as she crossed her arms and pouted slightly. Astrid immediately noticed this body language, rolling her eyes before saying _"Val. I'm the champ, okay?"_

"Yes dear, I know." Astrid recognised the bitterness in Valka's voice, but continued with _"then you also know that I don't have a choice. I have to do it."_

"Oh yes... choice... you definitely don't have that, do you?"

_"No, I don't."_

"And I reckon your Uncle didn't have a choice to do the Fearless Four-Fifty Splash that day either, did he?" Valka put her hands on her hips as she sternly looked at Astrid. "And look what his big fuck-up did!"

_"What?! That's in no way the same as this..."_

"What are you hoping to accomplish with this, Astrid? What do you have to prove? What's this fight got to offer you that's worth putting everything you've put at risk like this, eh? Gods, you really are just like your uncle..."

_"This is nothing like what Uncle Finn did!"_

"How is it any different? Hmm?! You tell me!" Valka snapped. "A weapons match against one of the Thorston twins'll end exactly the same way. I don't want you putting Hiccup through everything your uncle put you through."

_"I'm not... I'm not putting Hiccup through anything! Besides, you told me yourself you thought she was a pushover!"_

"I also told you it wasn't worth it and you've ignored that, so obviously what I say doesn't mean shit to you, does it?"

Astrid put her hands to her eyes and tugged on her own hair, getting visibly more frustrated as she said _"ugh... Val, I really don't need you trying to guilt trip me into backing out, okay? Not today of all fucking days! Because I need..."_

Valka cut her off with a sound that almost resembled a sarcastic cackle of a witch, before she said "what's even the fucking point of it all anymore? Ever since you signed up with that fucking glorified fight club I've been bending over backwards with my tits in a twist to help you, and you just..."

**_"Bend over backwards? Oh fuck that!"_** Astrid flicked her hair out of her face, which was now turning a notable tint of red. **_"You really think that giving me a fucking sour look every time I try to feel proud of an accomplishment was helping me? Do you ever have a fucking smile on your face when I win anymore? Of course you fucking don't! You just sit there looking like a miserable cunt! It's my fucking life and I decide how to live it, Val!"_**

"You live your life how you want, girl, but try not to fucking ruin Hiccup's life as well!"

_"Oh fuck off Val. You just... just... **RAAAGH!**"_ Astrid went red in the face as she slammed her fist hard on the the operating table. She only hit the cushioned part so that it wasn't damaged, before she finally let out all the pent up anger and stress she could muster and released it through her fists as she continued to hit that same part of the operating table. **_"Stupid-stupid-stupid... FUUUUUCK!"_**

Having finally depleted her fury through that final, blood-curdling shriek, Astrid took a deep breath and exhaled, allowing her bright red skin to return to it's usual colour. She unclenched her fists and flicked her messied bangs out of her face as she turned back to face a straight-faced, cross-armed Valka.

"You get all that out of your system?" there wasn't any anger in the voice of her boyfriend's mother, it seemed there was mostly concern with perhaps a slight hint of disappointment. Not that Astrid was surprised by this.

_"Yeah, I... it's out of me, I just... Val, I'm sorry, okay... ugh... look, I'm taking the fight, with or without your blessing. I'm sorry, but it's what I'm going to do."_

"Aye. I know." Valka nodded as she pinched her eyebrow in mild frustration. Astrid nodded as well as she straightened up a bit, taking a deep breath before saying _"what's it gonna be, then?"_

"Astrid. If you're wanting to fight Ruffnut Thorston, you be my guest." Valka took a moment to think before she continued. "But I'll have no part in it. I doubt Stoick will either. We're not supporting it, and it's obvious that you're not going to listen to us if we discourage it, but... but you do whatever you want to do."

_"Yeah. Yeah, that's what I thought..."_ Astrid sighed as she tightened the zip on her jacket and went to the door. She stopped in the doorway for a moment, before saying _"I'm sorry, Val. Really, I am. Look, you..."_

Valka almost seemed to look hopeful as she turned to hear what Astrid had to say, only for any optimism to visibly drain out as Astrid continued. _"You wouldn't understand, but I have to do this."_

"I _do_ understand, Astrid." Valka leaned back in the seat she'd just gone to, the bitter tone sipping back into her voice. "But are you sure that _you_ do?"

Astrid didn't answer her, simply groaning as she went out the doorway and carefully closed the door behind her.


	18. Conference

**The Next Night - Hiccup's Apartment**

**_"AAAAGGGH!"_**

Within a second Astrid had Hiccup caught in a wrist lock, twisting it slightly to knock the butter knife out of his hand before flipping him over her back so he landed back-first on the pile of pillows she had placed behind her. "Ugh... ow..."

_"See, what'd I tell you?"_ Astrid grinned as she looked down at him, with Hiccup's position making her face look upside down to him. _"Pretty effective, right...?"_

"Oh, yeah... absolutely..." he weakly responded. Astrid held out her hand to him, with Hiccup grabbing her wrist and allowing her to pull him to his feet as he sat back on the couch. Astrid quickly jumped over the back of the couch to land next to him, tucking her head under his chin as she got herself comfortable.

"I still don't get why you had to give me, like, an actual knife to try and stab you with. Couldn't you just... you know... try it out anyway?" she chuckled as Hiccup asked her this, tilting her head slightly to look at him.

_"Well, I can't just grab you. Alright, you gotta provoke me. It's a defence, remember, not an attack... besides... well, it was a butter knife..."_

Hiccup shrugged in defeat, exhaling as Astrid did the same. He could tell she was thinking about something, and she could probably guess that he was as well. It took about five minutes of silence before Astrid removed her head from under his chin and looked up at him. _"Hiccup... you know I love you, right?"_

That came out of nowhere, and Hiccup wasn't entirely sure how he was meant to respond to such a statement, or question, or whatever that was she just said. He shrugged a bit, gulping and then clearing his throat as he slightly straightened up on the couch. "I um... I... well... yeah, I... I guess so. Sure."

_"You guess so?"_ Astrid chuckled a bit, before sitting up on the couch so she could look directly at him. She had a warm little smile on her face as he looked back at her. _"Hiccup, I do love you. I mean it. I'd do anything for you, babe... and I know it's tough to plan ahead with stuff like... like this, but this past year has been amazing. It really has. And one day, I hope our relationship can go even further, you know what I mean?"_

"I uh... I get what you mean, yeah..." Hiccup sounded a little breathless as he said this. The box with the ring was still in his back pocket, so all he had to do was reach there to get it. Though he decided to hold off on it, just in case Astrid was talking about something different. Better safe than sorry.

_"I absolutely trust you, Hiccup. And I know you'll always be there to help and support me. And I'm so grateful for that, I really am. So... I just wanted to ask you something."_

She gently took his hand, letting Hiccup's eyes go wide for a second. A small, excited little grin came to his face as he reached his hand behind his back, clearly indicating that he'd guessed what she was about to ask. "Yeah? What is it?"

_"Do you think I should take the fight with Ruffnut Thorston?"_

"Oh..." Hiccup's grin shrank a bit for a split-second, but he managed to force it back up and bring his hand back before Astrid really noticed. "Um... wow, that... that's crazy, because that's uh... that's exactly what I was gonna ask you about..."

_"Huh... really?"_

"Yeah, I uh... because I was just... I was just thinking about it when I saw her last interview and I thought... hey, I wonder what Astrid's gonna do about that, cause... you know..."

_"Hmm. Well, okay, but... what do you think?"_ Astrid took his hand a little tighter. _"I mean, I... I might decide against it if you think it's a bad idea, Hiccup..."_

"Might?"

_"Well... I dunno."_ Astrid smirked a bit. _"I mean, I've been getting some uh... pressure, to take it. See... well, I've already said yes, but... but I guess I could retract it, I mean... we weren't on camera or anything when I talked to Johann about it. And I was just really mad when I did, so maybe I just... wasn't thinking clearly or something. But I probably trust you the most to tell me what to do here."_

"Did you not talk to Mom about it?"

Astrid itched the back of her head nervously, saying _"we um... we agreed to disagree, let's just say."_

"Aw man..."

_"But... she did say I should do what I think. So uh... well, I think I'm in need of a second opinion."_ Astrid put her arm around his shoulder. _"And yours is one I'll trust. So... what do you think?"_

Hiccup sighed as he looked down to the floor, biting his lip for about half a minute as he struggled to find his words. Eventually, he finally managed to look her in the eye as she looked at him nervously.

"Astrid. Whatever you want to do. I'll..." he cleared his throat again so he didn't sound as worried. "I'll support it. It's entirely up to you."

_"Aw, babe... thank you."_ Astrid gave him a gentle little kiss on the lips as she rested her head on his shoulder. A few more minutes of this silence passed once again, and her body language wasn't giving Hiccup any hints on what she actually wanted to do about Ruffnut's challenge. She finally spoke up, saying _"so... I reckon we'd be doing the promotions for it in a couple weeks, so... I guess we're gonna have to call off a few date nights. Ha ha..."_

Hiccup chuckled a bit as well, gently resting his hand on her shoulder as she nestled closer into his. "Eh... I guess it'll all be worth it, right?"

_"Uh-huh. It sure will be, sweetheart. It sure will be."_

* * *

**Later That Night - Sports Entertainment News**

**_"Tonight on Sports Entertainment News, we have a very special guest joining us... please give a big hand to Heather the Unhinged..."_**

Heather waved at the studio audience as she came onto the stage and sat down. She had a soft, slightly shy tone in her voice as she said _"yeah, uh... hi... hey guys... great to be here..."_

**_"You're looking well tonight, Heather. How are you feeling?"_**

_"I'm fine. Yeah, I'm uh... I'm feeling great."_

**_"So you made a few headlines when you went to South America last month Heather. Remind me again, it was a rescue centre you went to, right?"_**

_"Yeah, that's right. It was a really humbling experience."_ Heather had her hand over her heart as she spoke. _"All the endangered wildlife that they were taking care of there... I mean, it's no secret that I'm an animal lover, but... this is a serious thing, and I think getting that sanctuary as much attention as possible is probably the most important thing in my life besides my boyfriend and my family..."_

**_"And of course your BMCA career."_**

_"Eh... that's debatable..." _Heather chuckled a bit as she scratched the back of her head.

**_"Well we all saw that picture you took last year with Hiccup Haddock..."_**

_"Yeah, the uh... the HicTooth Vlogs guy. Huge fan of those. Toothless and Hookfang really are adorable, ha ha..."_

_**"It's also common knowledge that Haddock is currently the boyfriend of your old rival, the Deadly Nadder..." **_the host raised an eyebrow as Heather's grin started to falter and her eye started to nervously twitch. _**"I guess I'll just have to ask the question I'm sure is on everyone's mind, Heather. Was the picture for your love of animals, or was it the first step of a challenge campaign? Maybe a bit of both?"**_

Heather's grin dropped completely as she straightened up a bit. _"Excuse me?"_

**_"Well, after that little ambush last time... I'm sure you'll all set for a rematch once Hofferson's done with Thorston?"_**

_"No. As a matter of a fact, I'm not."_ the host was taken back a bit by Heather's stern tone. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, saying _"I don't give a rat's ass about the title, okay? And I don't give a rat's ass about the Deadly Nadder either. I'm here to talk about my trip to South America, and my own life. What, you think because my only loss has been against that disrespectful, arrogant **(BEEP)** that she's all I'm worth talking to about? **(BEEP)** that, okay?! I have bigger things going on in my life than Astrid **(BEEP)**ing Hofferson!"_

_**"Oh... um... I was just..."**_

_"Yeah, you know what... I'm sorry, but... but I'm not **(BEEP)**ing doing this."_ Heather then reached her hand to her dress and started tugging at the small black device attached to her shoulder strap. She muttered under her breath as it wouldn't come off, prompting the host to go a little wide-eyed. _"You're all a bunch of tabloid twisting mother**(BEEP)**ers... was a **(BEEP)**ing waste of time coming here..."_

**_"Um... Heather, what exactly are you..."_**

_"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to get this **(BEEP)**ing mic off my..."_

**_"Yeah, but the..."_**

_"This interview is over. And not soon enough, you **(BEEP)**ing piece of **(BEEP)**..."_ Heather finally pulled off the microphone, spitefully throwing it on the floor as she got off the couch and left the room. The host wasn't sure what to do about this, forcing a smile onto his face as he said _**"everybody give it up for Heather the Unhinged!"**_

The screen censored Heather's hand as she stuck up her middle finger to the camera, not even facing it as she stormed out of the studio and slammed the door behind her.

* * *

**One Week Later**

The press conference was packed with reporters and journalists from all over the Archipelago. Astrid was sitting at the end of the row with Sven separating her from Ruffnut and Johann. Johann was interviewed first, pointing to one of the reporters calling his name.

_**"Mr Trader! Has a venue been chosen for the fight?"**_

_"Indeed, it has. This match will be held in the Great Hall of the Berk Town Centre, three weeks this Thursday night."_ Johann remained straight faced as she said this, before Ruffnut took the microphone from him and interrupted, standing up as she spoke.

_"Yeah, because I want our entire hometown to see this fight!"_

_"You're gonna regret that..."_ Astrid scoffed under her breath, but Ruffnut was barely just able to hear her.

_"I'm not gonna regret it, because I want all of Berk, I want all this Archipelago, I want the entire fricking world... to see me destroy this bitch, on live TV!"_ Ruffnut nodded confidently. _"And I'm gonna show everybody what a paper champion the Deadly Nadder really is."_

Ruffnut sat back down and a few reporters were calling out Astrid's name now, so she briefly pointed to one as they all went silent. The reporter held a microphone up and said _**"Miss Hofferson, how do you feel about this choice of venue?"**_

_"I'm actually happy about it."_ Astrid remained calm as she interlocked her fingers together and rested them on the table.

**_"And why is that?"_**

_"Because it's not that far from my apartment, so when I win I don't have to worry about partying too hard."_ she smirked as some of the reporters laughed, resting back in the chair as Ruffnut bitterly scowled at her, before the latter pointed to someone calling her name.

**_"Miss Thorston? How does your brother feel about this fight after how it ended last time?"_**

Ruffnut chuckled in a surprisingly warm tone, talking into her own microphone as she said _"look, I know me and Tuff butt heads a lot, but truth be told... he's probably the best brother anybody could ask for... he's been so supportive of me, and he told me last night... Ruff, you're the best fighter BMCA has to offer. And Hofferson's not gonna know what hit her. She might have the title for now, but you'll always be the true champ to me.__"_

_**"Aw..."**_ seemed to be the collective sound going on in the crowd, prompting Astrid to cross her arms and roll her eyes. When the reporters started calling out her name again she was tempted to make some kind of incest joke about the twins, but seeing how much postive attention Ruffnut's comment was getting, holding off on it was probably for the best.

**_"Miss Hofferson! Will Hiccup Haddock be in attendance on the night of the fight?"_**

_"Oh, uh..."_ Astrid cleared her throat and looked to the floor for a moment, having been caught slightly off-guard by the question. _"I um... well, see the thing is... ooh... Hiccup's got a lot on his plate right now, you know, running the Sanctuary and stuff... but he's being very supportive of me even all the way through, and I absolutely love him to bits for that. Besides, seeing what an easy win this is gonna be for me, I didn't think it'd be worth Hiccup's time coming."_

_"Oh please..."_ Ruffnut called this out loud as Astrid turned to face her. _"Everybody knows the only reason he's not coming is because you're fucking embarassed by him!"_

A few murmurings were heard in the crowd as Sven went a little wide-eyed, prompting a redder-faced Astrid to bluntly say _"excuse me?"_

_"I've known the two of you for years, Astrid... you think I didn't know about you guys falling out after high school? And just when he thought he was free, you dragged him back in..."_

_"Miss Thorston. That's quite enough..."_ Johann put a hand up, though he had a smug grin on his face that implied that he wanted Ruffnut to keep on talking. Astrid scowled at this, knowing full well what they were trying to do but finding it increasingly difficult to resist what they were tempting her with.

_"And then there's that picture he took with Heather the Unhinged..."_ Ruffnut chuckled maliciously as Astrid clenched her fist. _"Not to mention his eye afterwards..."_

**_"You fucking cunt!"_** Astrid leapt out of her seat and tackled Ruffnut out of her's, with Sven, Johann and an assortment of security guards trying to split them apart as they tussled viciously on the floor. They were eventually separated as the journalists and reporters rapidly continued taking pictures, Sven pulling Astrid back as Ruffnut was being led away by Johann. **_"You get in that ring with me, you're fucking dead, you hear me Thorston?! Fucking dead!"_**

Ruffnut flipped the bird at Astrid as she and Johann left, enraging Astrid further as Sven had to put more effort into pulling her back. She shoved him off aggressively, scoffing as she snapped out **_"I'm fine! I'm fucking fine!"_**

_"Well..."_ he spoke under his breath as he finally got Astrid to sit back down, patting her on the back as her face returned to it's usual colour. _"I suppose that went as well as could be expected..."_


	19. Worry

**Three Weeks Later - Hiccup's Apartment**

Hiccup was sitting on the living room couch looking through some of the comments on his latest _HicTooth Vlogs_ video, the majority of which were asking about Astrid's fight that was now only two days away. There was also the occasional one asking about his eye from the year before, but he'd already posted an entire video explaining that what Ruffnut had said at the press conference was entirely untrue, as were any rumours about him having being unfaithful with Heather.

He looked up when he heard Astrid's voice calling from the bedroom, having been waiting for her to change into whatever her costume designers had made for the fight. _"Alright, Hiccup, you ready for me...?"_

"Uh... yeah, I guess..."

_"What I've got on here is gonna knock your socks off!"_

"Well I only have one sock and it's already off, so maybe you oughta just come in here naked..." Hiccup scoffed with a brow raised as he shut his laptop, only to go wide-eyed when Astrid actually came into the bedroom and leaned seductively against the doorway.

_"Well... what do you think?"_

She was wearing her usual BMCA outfit, the sleeveless blue shirt with black leggings, furred boots, a red spiked skirt and silver shoulder pads with skull-shaped buttons on them, as well as her horned blue helmet with yellow highlights. She also had a long white, sheepskin cape over it, with extra fur on her wrist guards and boots as well. With the fight against Ruffnut she was clearly trying to make more of a show of this than usual, so this look perfectly reflected what she wanted.

"Aw... you look absolutely beautiful..." he could tell she was blushing a bit under the mask when he said this, but she removed the cape and put it over the chair as she sat on the couch next to him. He grunted a bit when one of the spikes on her skirt poked his thigh, which caused Astrid to tense back as she lifted the faceplate on her helmet.

_"Shit, uh... sorry... I should probably... take this off..."_ she unbuckled the back of her skirt and put it on the table as she got close to Hiccup again, letting him put his arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"So... two more days." he said quietly, almost under his breath, but Astrid nodded in response with a grin. However, her face suddenly lit up when she saw the programme that was playing on the TV.

**_"Holy shit! I totally forgot this was on!"_** she shot up like a fangirl and grabbed the remote from the table, quickly turning up the volume as she and Hiccup sat up to watch it.

* * *

**BMCA History Highlights - Fearless Finn Hofferson**

_"Two days from now, the Deadly Nadder has a long awaited, heavily hyped up weapons match against Ruffnut Thorston of the Zippleback Twins... it only seems fair that this week's edition of History Highlights focus on her beloved uncle, and late BMCA legend, Fearless Finn Hofferson!"_

* * *

**_"About fucking time they focused on Uncle Finn! Whoo!"_** Astrid took off her helmet and left it on the couch next to her, excitedly sitting at the very corner of the couch to watch the screen.

Hiccup smiled at her when he saw her doing this, but also felt his smirk slipping a bit when he looked at the helmet that was next to him. What he was currently thinking about had been in the back of his mind ever since he first saw Ruffnut's challenge, and if he wasn't going to talk to Astrid about it now, he likely wouldn't get another chance to.

So he cleared his throat, but Astrid didn't seem to pay any attention to that. "Astrid... can I uh... can I ask you something?"

_"Uh-huh, yeah. Sure babe. What is it?"_ Astrid bluntly said back, her eyes still excitedly glued to the screen without turning to face him.

"This fight, against Ruff... is it really against her?" Hiccup had a soft tone in his voice as he said this, but his words still caused Astrid's head to twitch a bit as she heard them. Astrid turned to him with a brow raised, still grinning as she said _"well, yeah. If it's not against her, then who's it against? Ha ha..."_

Hiccup shrugged, saying "well, I dunno, maybe... maybe it's just... you against yourself?"

Astrid sighed at first, but she managed to clear her throat with a smirk, chuckling as she said _"fighting myself wouldn't be that interesting, Hiccup..."_

"That's... not what I meant..." Hiccup said as he put a hand on Astrid's shoulder, noticing that she was straightening up a bit and was starting to crack. "Astrid, are... are you sure you're not just trying to prove something? Because trust me, you don't have to prove anything to anyone."

_"I'm not."_ Astrid's voice was unintentionally stern when she said this, but she softened up a bit as she added _"look, if you think I'm just doing this for my ego, Hiccup, then you're wrong. Dead wrong."_

"Astrid, you're a great fighter. Always have been, no doubt about that."

_"Yeah. Thanks."_ Astrid put her hand over the one Hiccup had on her shoulder, rubbing it affectionately as she smiled at him.

"But... but I dunno, maybe... maybe Mom's right... maybe you don't have to keep doing this..." he took a deep breath, since a part of him knew she wasn't going to be happy about what he was about to say. "And maybe you... maybe you shouldn't."

_"Ugh..."_ Astrid put her hand to her face. _"Did she tell you to say this to me?"_

"No, but I've listened to what she's said. I've listened to what she's been saying about this for years, Astrid..."

She turned back to face him with a straight expression. _"Hiccup, are you trying to say that the show's over for me?"_

"Well no, I... I just..." Hiccup took his hand away as Astrid got up, leaving her helmet on the couch as she stood in front of the TV. She turned back around to face him as she stood up, almost looking down on him as she brushed her bangs out of her slightly reddened face.

_"Babe, I can't quit now when I'm at the top of my game, okay?! I've got a great fucking thing going for me, and I'm not throwing it away for anybody, especially not Ruffnut. And what am I supposed to do, what am I supposed to be, when that's over? Huh? It's not like I can be reincarnated."_

"Well, no..." Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "Alright, so we can't be born again, but I... I just... ugh... Astrid, you're not gonna be on top forever, and we all have to change sometime."

**_"But I don't wanna change. I like who I am!"_** Astrid pointed to herself, equal hints of both sadness and anger in her voice.

Hiccup took her hand gently, saying "I know, Astrid, and I love who you are too, but... but I don't wanna lose you."

_"Lose me? You think that I... that... ugh..."_ Astrid pulled her hand away from his as she tried to look away, an annoyed and almost betrayed tone in her voice. _"You think I'm not gonna win..."_

"No, I didn't say that, I just..."

**_"But you're implying it!"_**

**"I'm not implying anything, Astrid!"** Hiccup pointed to the footage on the TV, which was now showing Astrid's fight with Heather as she performed the Madguts Moonsault.

"You don't want to believe this, I get it, but the truth it... one day you're not gonna be able to do that. And I'm worried sick about when that day comes, especially if neither of us are ready when it does. Alright, I... I don't wanna get a call one day, saying you fucked up the moonsault and broke your neck or... or Odin forbid, you tried that Fearless Four Fifty... and it went wrong..."

Astrid tried to look away again, but a part of her hesitated since it knew Hiccup was right, to at least a certain extent.

"Look, I'm not saying you should back out of the fight with Ruff, because I know you won't... I'm not even saying you should retire right away, maybe five, ten years in the future or something... I'm just saying, one day you're gonna have to decide when you're done, or else BMCA are gonna decide for you."

Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose as she bit her lip, slowly turning back to Hiccup with slightly misty eyes. She sat down next to him, putting one hand on his forearm and using the other to wipe his hair out of his face.

_"I like being with you, Hiccup. It's great, I love you, and you've given me so much, but... but... but everything you can give to me. The sanctuary, Cami, you, it... it doesn't change anything."_ Astrid rubbed the back of her neck as she looked to the ceiling. _"I will make that decision one day, Hiccup, I promise, but it can't be right now."_

"Yeah. I know." he smiled at her as he put his hand over the one she had on his forearm.

_"Because right now, my fans don't want nostalgia from a retired old lady. They can get plenty of that elsewhere. With me, they wanna be amazed. Alright, they... they don't want Astrid Hofferson, the little girl from Berk. They want their hero. They want the champion. They want the Deadly Nadder. That's who I have to be right now, Hiccup."_

She gave him a kiss on the lips, stroking the side of his face as she said _"so I'm asking you, I'm asking your mom, and I'm asking everybody. Just let it happen. I'll be okay."_

Hiccup nodded, saying "yeah. Yeah, I... I know you will... I gotta say, you're a really great talker."

_"Well. I reckon I picked that up from you."_ she giggled a bit as she kissed him again, before wrapping her arms tight around him. Hiccup slowly returned the hug, not letting Astrid see the tear coming down his face as he wiped it away with the back of his hand.

Astrid separated from the embrace, wiping her own face as she said _"listen, Hiccup... if you're really worried about the fight with Ruff. Then the least I can do is make it quick... you know, maybe get her pinned and win before any of the not so nice weapons come out..."_

"Well, you could definitely pull that off, champ... not to mention it'd piss off that Johann guy..." they both laughed as he said this, before Astrid nodded with a confident grin on her face.

_"Guess it's settled, then. Quick win it is."_

* * *

**Two Days Later**

_"Thanks for uh... for coming over, Cam..."_ Hiccup opened the door and let Cami into the apartment.

"Sure, no problem... Alice is visiting her mom tonight, so I'm all free..." Cami took off her jacket and instantly made herself at home, just like old times, slumping down onto the couch in front of the TV and opening the numerous bags of popcorn, Doritos, marshmallows and other junk food, while Hiccup went to the kitchen to get them both a tonic water.

He sat straighter than she did when he got next to her on the couch, prompting Cami to roll her eyes as she knew exactly why he was so uptight. "So... you worried?"

_"About Astrid? Nah... no, no-no-no, why uh... why would I be worried?"_ he tried to sound casual as he forced a grin onto his face while he took some of his drink. Cami wasn't convinced, patting him on the back as she said "trust me, Hiccup, she's gonna be fine."

_"Yeah. Yeah, okay..."_ Hiccup nodded more nervously than before as he quickly took a handful of the Doritos and shoved them into his mouth. _"She's the champ... she'll pull through this, right?"_

"Of course she will..."

* * *

**Great Hall - Berk Town Centre**

_**"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you've all been waiting for! The most anticipated fight in recent BMCA history! Are you ready for some hardcore action?!"**_

The crowd cheered loudly, clearly indicating that **"YES"** was the answer to the commentator's question. The lights lit up the ring in the centre of the hall, making it known that one corner of the canvas was littered with a pile of weapons for the fighters to use, ranging from household appliances such as trash cans to instruments like guitars to actual weapons like steel pipes. Surrounding the ring were several tables, some of which were covered in rolled up bundles of barbed wire, clearly being a set up hazard like a pond on a golf course.

_**"The following contest is scheduled for a one-fall, and it is a hardcore rules, anything goes, street fight! Introducing first..."**_

The lights went down, with a single spotlight shining on the curtained entrance under the screen. The screen turned on with _**THORSTON**_ written in neon green letters, while the _Hampsterdance Song_ played in the background.

**_"RUFFNUT... THORSTON!"_**

_All right everybody, now here we go  
__It's a brand new version of the do see do  
__Just stomp you feet and clap your hands  
__Come on everybody, it's the hampsterdance_

_Bounce in time, to the beat  
__Hey, you don't even have to move your feet  
__Just shake your thing, let me see you move  
__Now spin around, and feel the groove  
__Yeeeeeeeeeeee ha, let's try it_

Ruffnut skipped theatrically out of the entrance, wasting no time in putting up both middle fingers and keeping them pointed to either side of the arena as she headed over to the ring and climbed into it. She lifted both her fists as she stood in the centre of the ring, making a rooster's cry as she took in the assorted noises of the crowd.

* * *

_"Wow. Astrid wasn't kidding... she really does use that song."_ Hiccup muttered to himself, Cami chuckling in response.

"Yeah... nobody really takes the twins all that seriously... they're kind of... well, goofsters."

_"Hmm... nothing's changed from school, then."_

* * *

Ruffnut kept her helmet tucked under her armpit as she looked to the entrance, waiting for her opponent to arrive. The crowd died down a bit as the lights went down again, before the screen over the entrance lit up in a bright, blinding blue, with a spotlight once again being shone on the entrance itself.

**_"And now, ladies and gentlemen. About to enter the squared circle..."_**

_As a child, you would wait_  
_And watch from far away_  
_But you always knew that you'd be the one_  
_That work while they all play_

_**"Ladies and gentlemen... Astrid Hofferson... the DEADLY NADDER!"**_

_Here we are, don't turn away now,_  
_We are the warriors that built this town_  
_Here we are, don't turn away now_  
_We are the warriors that built this town_  
_From dust_

_**VROOM! VROOM-VROOM-VROOM!**_

The crowd erupted into fanatical cheering and hollering as the customised blue and gold quad bike drove down the ramp and drove in a circle around the ring. Astrid was wearing her fully-adorned, caped outfit and was standing on the back of the bike while someone else was driving it, holding her left fist up as she held her helmet in her right hand.

When she climbed into the ring, Astrid wasted no time shoving Ruffnut aside as she ran to a corner post, climbing it so she was standing on the middle rope and raising her arms as the crowd cheered in approval.

**"WHOO! Yeah!"** Astrid hollered back as he jumped down from the rope, glancing with an arrogant grin to her opponent.

Ruffnut scoffed, before walking past her and climbing to the middle rope of the same post with her arms raised, which immediately prompted boos and jeers from the crowd. There were a few cheers, but they weren't nearly as loud as there had been for Astrid. She sighed in annoyance as she got down again, before Astrid suddenly raced past her and the referee to another post.

She stood on the bottom rope and raised her fist to even more cheers from the crowd. When she got back down she nudged post with a smirk, welcoming Ruffnut to try her luck again. Ruffnut took the offer, standing on the bottom rope with both arms raised as she waited to be cheered by the crowd.

**_WHAM!_**

The music was cut off as Astrid swung a trash can into Ruffnut's back, knocking the wind out of the latter as the post went hard into her stomach. The crowd cheered and laughed as Astrid continued trying to hit her with it, only for the referee to grab her and send her to the opposite corner. Astrid scoffed as she threw the trash can on the floor and reluctantly followed the referee's instructions, stretching her triceps and deltoids as she waited in her corner for the bell.

**_"That's a cheap shot, that's a cheap shot from the Nadder right there... she is not in the mood to wait tonight..."_**

Astrid and a still-dizzied Ruffnut put on their helmets and faced each other from either corner, before the loud bell went **_DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!_**

_**"And they're off!"**_


	20. Fight

Ruffnut charged towards Astrid, the latter stopping in the centre of the ring as she trapped Ruffnut in a headlock. Ruffnut's momentum was a little stronger than she'd expected since she was pushed a few steps back, but Astrid managed to send her foot into Ruffnut's stomach to knock the wind out of her again.

Astrid released Ruffnut from the headlock and sent a fist into her face, causing Ruffnut to stumble back as she got even dizzier. Astrid took the opportunity to run over to the pile of weapons in the corner of the ring, digging through it and pulling out a white, wooden guitar.

**_"What's the Nadder doing, i__s she gonna play a song?"_**

**_CRASH!_**

**"OH-HO!"** the crowd shouted as Astrid swung down the guitar with great speed and ferocity, shattering the body over Ruffnut's head. Ruffnut dropped down to her knees and Astrid kicked her in the stomach before raising the neck of the guitar as the crowd continued cheering.

**_"The Deadly Nadder has just smashed a guitar over the head, of Ruffnut Thorston! N__ow she's got her against the ropes!"_**

Discarding the neck of the guitar, Astrid grabbed Ruffnut's wrist, shoving her back right into the ropes before launching her over to the other side of the ring. Ruffnut swivelled herself around as her back bounced off the opposite ropes, swinging her fist to try and clothesline Astrid. Several times this happened as she went back-and-forth, with Astrid ducking and dodging to avoid each attack.

**_"And another miss! And another! And another!"_**

_**WHAM!**_

Astrid held up the trash can she'd thrown on the floor before and allowed Ruffnut to fly face-first into it. The crowd cheered as Ruffnut fell back on the canvas and Astrid cried out like a wolf as she threw the now-dented trash can to the other side of the ring.

**_"Things are not going well for Ruffnut Thorston tonight. The Deadly Nadder is really dominating the fight thus far. Thor only knows __what the Nadder's got up her sleeve next..."_**

Astrid lifted the faceplate on her helmet to expose her face, pointing upwards and crying out **"up top!"** to the cheers of the crowd. She grabbed Ruffnut's leg and arm, using them to drag her body towards a corner post, leaving her lying on her back before she put her face-plate back down.

* * *

_"Wait, wha... what's she doing?"_ Hiccup said worryingly as they watched Astrid climbing the post so she was standing on top of it, her feet balancing on either of the two ropes connected to it. Cami wasn't concerned at all, playfully hitting him on the shoulder as she took a handful of pretzels and stuffed them in her mouth.

**"Relx..."** she said with her mouth full so she couldn't talk properly. **"She's gung foo fisher..."**

_"Huh?"_ Hiccup allowed her to swallow her food and clear her throat as she repeated herself. "I said relax, she's going for a finisher."

* * *

_**"It seems the Deadly Nadder isn't trying to drag this one out tonight. She's already going for her most used finisher, the Madguts Moonsault."**_

Astrid was facing away from the ring as she bent her knees and prepared to perform her moonsault, preventing her from noticing Ruffnut pulling herself back to her feet. She took a few deep breaths and whispered to herself as she prepared to launch herself upwards. _"Alright... alright, here we go..."_

_**"But what's this! Oh good gods!"**_

Astrid went wide-eyed as she felt Ruffnut's hands press against her backside, the latter using all her strength to launch Astrid forwards off the post so that she went spiralling straight out of the ring.

_**CRASH!**_

Her fall was broken by a set-up wooden table covered in barbed wire, which trapped and snagged on her cape and outfit as she fell back-first straight through it, shattering the table in the process. The cape was the only thing keeping the wire from actually cutting her, but it's sharp edges still poked at her skin and it still hurt like Hel as she struggled to free herself. _**"Agh! Fuck! Shit! Ow!"**_

* * *

_**"Astrid!"**_ Hiccup cried out as he and Cami both watched this with wide eyes. _**"Where the Hel is the ref! They have to stop this!"**_

"They can't..." Cami said, her voice trying to sound confident but still betraying an aura of worry. "The fight can only stopped by pinfall or if one quits."

* * *

Ruffnut climbed out of the ring and stepped down the steel stairs to one of the bottom corners, lifting up that section of the canvas and pulling out a board full of barbed wire which she carried back into the ring.

**_"What's Thorston up to here?"_**

Placing the board in one corner of the ring, Ruffnut went over to the pile of weapons and pulled out a small grocery bag that was pursed at the top by a string knot. She undid the knot, prompting the crowd to gasp and wince as she held the back upside down and emptied it onto the canvas.

**_"Oh... oh my gods! I've not seen this trick since the 90s, this is absolutely incredible! There... there are thumbtacks, all over the ring! And we've got barbed wire in one corner! You heard right, folks... Ruffnut Thorston is going to put the Deadly Nadder through the tacks and then through the wire!"_**

* * *

_**"Thumbtacks?!"**_ Hiccup snapped with wide eyes. _"No... no way, this has gone too far now..."_

Cami was nervous too, but remained more optimistic as she said "don't worry... Astrid's probably not gonna... oh gods..."

* * *

Astrid finally clambered her way out of the pile of wood, wire and metal that she'd landed in, grunting as she tore off her white fur cape and and threw it back on the floor. Still wearing her usual sleeveless blue shirt and her spiked skirt and shoulder pads, she straightened her helmet and climbed the ropes to get herself back into the ring.

She was hanging from the top rope as Ruffnut grabbed her by her braid and dragged her to the centre of the ring, slamming her fist into the side of Astrid's stomach when she tried to break free from her grip. Ruffnut looped her arms under Astrid's armpits from behind and tried to drag her towards the thumbtacks, while Astrid kicked and punched at her to try and pry herself free.

She eventually managed to tear Ruffnut's helmet off of her head, but Ruffnut responded to this by latching onto Astrid's right shoulder with her teeth.

* * *

**"Oh shit!"** Cami said as they watched this, before an even more shocked Hiccup said **_"where's the referee?!"_**

"What for? The referee can't do shit!"

**_"Come on, there's no way she's allowed to do that!"_**

"It doesn't say she can't either, Hiccup. Anything goes in these fights."

* * *

Astrid cried out as Ruffnut continued biting her shoulder, eventually sending a fist into Ruffnut's face that sent her staggering back. One of Ruffnut's hands was latched onto Astrid's chest, and as she fell three of her nails left thin but severe scratches under Astrid's shirt as she grunted again.

Astrid clutched her shoulder and chest as she glared at Ruffnut, running towards her before Ruffnut got a grip on her neck and waist.

**_"A c__ouple of cheap shots, she's got her in the air... AARRGGHH!"_**

The crowd screamed and Astrid was nearly frozen with shock after Ruffnut choke-slammed her back-first onto the canvas, causing Astrid to land hard on the thumbtacks as they pierced her back and arms. When she finally got the strength to roll back onto her front, still biting her own lip as she groaned in agony, there continued to be audible winces and cries from the crowd as they got a good view of the dozens of pins that were sticking out of her.

* * *

**"Oh gods... she looks like a human pincushion!"** Cami was almost tempted to laugh but she and Hiccup were both frozen in shock at what they were watching.

* * *

Astrid was still groaning as she used her knees and elbows to prop herself up, trying her best to tear as many thumbtacks out of herself as she could. Her arms were covered in tiny punctures, the majority of which were invisible with tiny lines of blood trickling out of a few. She still felt the bite on her shoulder and the claw marks Ruffnut had made on her chest as well, and looked down to see the faint stains the blood from these wounds were making on her shirt.

As she struggled to get back to her feet, Ruffnut stood in a corner and prepared to charge, with the barbed wire board being placed just across the ring on the opposite corner while Astrid stood seemingly oblivious between them.

**_"RRRRRAAAAGGGHHH-WHOA!"_** Ruffnut ran forward, neither she or the shocked crowd expecting Astrid to latch her arms around her waist and throw her over her head, sending Ruffnut screaming into the barbed wire board. Astrid collapsed back onto her knees after she did this, chuckling breathlessly as she grabbed the trash can again and placed it in front of where Ruffnut was lying.

Astrid went to the opposite corner where Ruffnut had been before, taking a deep breath as she got back to her feet. _"Alright... this time... this time, for sure... **HUUURRRAAAGGGHHH!**"_

She ran at full speed across the ring, leaping with both her feet up to drop-kick the trash can straight into Ruffnut's stomach, forcing Ruffnut to hit her back hard against the wire-covered ring post.

* * *

_**"YES!"**_ Hiccup and Cami both cheered, as Cami said **"come on, Ast! Pin that bitch down! Win this thing!"**

* * *

Astrid pulled Ruffnut's body out of the wreckage and lifted a leg to secure a pin as the referee and commentator began counting, neither noticing another figure running into the ring howling like a maniac.

_**"ONE! TWO!"**_

_**SMASH!**_

The crowd gasped and Astrid grunted as the figure behind her slammed the fluorescent tube into her back, shattering it as she released Ruffnut and fell to the canvas.

**_"Good Grief! It's Tuffnut Thorston! Y__ou heard it, folks! The other Zippleback twin is in the house!"_**

Tuffnut shattered another tube over Astrid's head, the helmet barely protecting her skull as Ruffnut got back up and they both dragged her out of the ring.

**_"Amazing! We've got an actual interference!"_**

* * *

**_"Wait, Tuff's taking part in this?!"_** Hiccup said, Cami shrugging in response.

"No disqualifications, remember?"

* * *

Astrid was still stunned from the other attacks as Ruffnut reached a hand under her leg and another over her shoulder, flipping Astrid upside down and scoop-slamming her down back-first onto the pile of fluorescent lights. _**SMASH!**_

**_"My goodness! The Nadder looks to be in very bad shape here! They're getting her up now!"_**

The twins grabbed Astrid by the arms and dragged her out of the pile of shattered glass. When they were at the foot of the ring, Tuffnut wrapped his arms under Astrid's armpits from behind and held her up for his sister as she clicked her knuckles into place.

_"Oof!" _Astrid grunted wheezily as Ruffnut buried her fist in her stomach, giving her a few seconds to suffer this first sting before hitting that same spot again.

**_"Oh, a cheap shot! __And another cheap shot! __An absolute... and here comes a third one!"_**

Ruffnut swung for Astrid's face this time, only for Astrid to suddenly duck as the crowd gasped. The fist swooped over Astrid's head straight into Tuffnut's face, causing him to free Astrid as he fell back. The crowd cheered as Astrid headbutted Ruffnut, the spike at the front of her helmet cutting the top of her opponent's forehead, before grabbing her by the back of the hair and throwing her face hard against the side of the ring.

**_"Amazing! Somehow the Deadly Nadder has found the strength to start__ fighting back again! Looks like she's setting up a table!"_**

* * *

_**"No, Astrid! No more tables!"**_ Hiccup called as Cami rolled her eyes.

"Dude, you know she can't hear you, right?"

* * *

Astrid finished setting out the table, before something tapped on her shoulder. She turned, only to wheeze out as Tuffnut delivered a spin-kick to her stomach with a resounding _**CRACK!**_

_"Ugh!"_ she collapsed back against the ring clutching her stomach. She'd never taken damage to the ribs before, but she was certain that at least one was broken by that attack.

_**"A cheap shot from Tuffnut Thorston. That looked like a devastating blow to the ribs for the Nadder. She'll be feeling that in the morning, I can assure you."**_

Tuffnut placed Astrid back on the table while Ruffnut climbed back into the ring and went to the other side of it, preparing herself to charge and jump.

**_"What is Ruffnut doing? What is she doing?_**

**_"WOOOO!"_** Ruffnut called as she leapt over the top rope, performing a frog splash onto Astrid's chest that shattered the table and sent them both crashing down to the floor as the audience cheered and jeered loudly. When the dust settled, Ruffnut lay over Astrid's midsection and lifted her leg up to secure a pin, as the referee counted and the commentator did the same.

**_"One! Two! AND A KICKOUT!"_**

Ruff was surprised as Astrid managed to force her shoulder up and escape the hold, rolling slowly and painfully onto her front and wincing in agony. _"Are you serious right now!"_

**_"But__ what's this? We've got a stretcher over here. Confirmed. It's a stretcher. __It seems the Deadly Nadder is not in any condition to continue... OH!"_**

The referee had to move Ruffnut away after she kicked Astrid between the legs, the latter groaning in even more pain as she struggled to crawl away. Ruffnut scoffed as she and her brother walked away from the scene and headed back into the ring as the medics unloaded their equipment to attend to Astrid.

* * *

"Gods, she's in bad shape..." Cami observed worryingly as they saw the medics putting Astrid in a neck brace and loading her onto the stretcher. Hiccup was both worried and relieved as he sighed.

_"Okay... okay, but at least she's done..."_

* * *

**_"I think the Deadly Nadder's done here for tonight, folks. She's on the stretcher, and they're taking her out of the arena."_**

As the stretcher carried Astrid away, they came past a corner of the ring, only for them to stop right under the post as Tuffnut grabbed one of the medics to talk to them. _"Hey, did I ever tell you guys the story of our Uncle Fenris?"_

**"AAAGH!" **Tuffnut served as the perfect distraction, allowing Ruffnut to jump from the top rope out of the ring and perform an elbow drop right onto the stretcher and right into Astrid's midsection again.

_**"OH!"**_ The audience roared in surprise as the force of the attack caused the medics to drop the stretcher and Astrid hit the floor hard with Ruffnut on top of her. She was trying not to cry through the pain she was in, with the elbow having gone straight into the rib Tuffnut had hit before. She was certain it was broken, but she was _dead_ certain that this wasn't going to keep her from finishing.

* * *

**"Oh, that is ridiculous!"** Cami snapped. **"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"**

* * *

Ruffnut took the opportunity to lift Astrid's leg up again, prompting the referee to reluctantly start counting again as the commentator did the same.

**_"One! Two! AND ANOTHER KICKOUT!"_**

Astrid rolled onto her front again as she escaped the hold, clutching her midsection with one hand and pulling the brace off her neck with the other. Ruffnut wasted no time picking Astrid up by her braid before grabbing the sides of her head and slamming her face first into the corner post as the crowd gasped again.

_**BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!**_

She repeated this several times before Astrid finally shoved her off, only for Tuffnut to grab her by the arm and swing Astrid back into the ring where she landed face-first on the canvas.

**_"Come on, Zipplebacks! Enough is enough! She's been broken in half!"_**

Astrid's helmet, which was chipped, broken and split in all areas to the point where it could no longer stay on, rolled off of her head as she lay in the ring, her hair an unkempt mess and her face-paint half-melted by heat, sweat and tears. Her right eye was almost swelled shut and she had a cut on her left eyebrow that trickled a line of blood down her left cheek. She crawled over to the weapons pile and pulled out an old computer keyboard as Tuffnut grabbed her by the hair and pulled her slowly up.

_**"Come on Nadder, stay down! You have nothing to prove! You can't win this one!"**_

_**WHACK! SMASH!**_

Astrid swung the keyboard up, delivering a low blow to Tuffnut's stomach before shattering it over his head. As Tuffnut fell back, Astrid turned to face Ruffnut hoping to repeat this, only for the latter to swing a steel pipe right into the left side of her stomach with a hard, grisly _**CRUNCH!**_

The crowd was going silent as they heard that sound and a wide-eyed Astrid wheezed open her mouth silently, too shocked to even scream through the sudden, agonising pain. It was definitely a rib again, maybe even more than one this time. And it hurt, bad. She bit her bottom lip hard as she dropped the keyboard, collapsing onto one knee as she clutched her stomach.

* * *

Hiccup stood up as Astrid dropped, both he and Cami going wide-eyed as they realised she wasn't going to defend herself. _"Stop the fight... **STOP THE FIGHT!**"_

* * *

_**WHACK!**_

The deathly silence had entirely overtaken the crowd as Ruffnut swung the pipe again. This blow went to Astrid's face, sending her head whipping back with blood flying from her mouth and nose. Her legs gave way and she hit the canvas like a rock, her arms and legs bouncing lifelessly like a rag doll as she landed flat on her back.

* * *

**_"ASTRID!"_**

* * *

Black. Darkness. It was all Astrid could see. She couldn't have been dead, because she could still hear and feel everything. She wasn't really unconscious either, just in so much pain that she couldn't even generate the strength to open her eyes. She could barely make a sound as she felt someone laying over her stomach and lifting her leg up again, feeling the hard pounding of the referee's hand on the canvas as she felt herself starting to drift off.

**_DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!_**

She then felt two fingers on her eye, forcing it open so she could finally see a light. This one was particularly bright, moving from side as her eye followed it. After a few seconds of this, the fingers let go of her eye and allowed her to close it as she heard more people entering the ring with medical equipment.

The bell was an indication that the fight was over. But what happened? Who won? These questions were the only thing keeping Astrid awake, and she finally allowed herself to lose consciousness as she heard the commentator bellowing through the speakers.

**_"Ladies and gentlemen! __I give you... winner by pinfall... the new BMCA champion... Ruffnut Thorston!"_**


	21. Aftermath

Astrid had to blink a few times for her eyes to adjust to the light, eventually being able to see where she was. She wasn't wearing her usual BMCA outfit, just a plain blue T-shirt and black leggings, she was barefoot and standing on what seemed to be an endless sea of ankle-deep, clear water under a fiery sunset sky. She had to squint to see what appeared to be a stone statue about a hundred yards in the distance, slowly walking over to it as the silhouette became more clear.

_"Uh..."_ her eyes widened a bit when she walked over to it, finally recognising the familiar shape, beard and build of the man stood atop the pedestal. _"Uncle Finn?"_

The figure standing there turned to face her, smiling as Astrid arrived at the foot of the pedestal and looked up to him. He remained where was was, looking down rather than coming down as he said **_"well... told you this wasn't a battle for you, Astrid."_**

Astrid scoffed, almost with a chuckle as she put her hands on her hips. _"I'm pretty sure you said not yet."_

**_"Made quite the name for yourself, eh? The Deadly Nadder. Stoick gave you that, didn't he?"_**

_"Hmm... yeah, he did."_

_**"Shame, really..."**_ he said solemnly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. _**"You sorted out that Oswald's lot, but I was really hoping you'd be holding up my name for a good, long while..."**_

_"Well, I uh..."_ Astrid itched the back of her neck, only to go wide-eyed as he stared at her with the warmth having completely disappeared from his voice and face.

_**"You let me down, lass. **_**_You've let us all down."_**

Astrid sighed worryingly, brushing her hair out of her eyes and looking away as she struggled to think of what to say. _"No, I just... ugh... Uncle Finn, please, I didn't mean..."_

**_"Of course you didn't. No one means to be a failure, Astrid."_** he shrugged. _**"Doesn't stop them from being one."**_

_"I don't... I'm not a... Uncle Finn...?"_ Astrid turned back around again, but the pedestal was gone and the sunset had turned to a dark, cold night, and she was standing alone again. _"Uncle Finn?"_

* * *

**_"GAH!"_**

As soon as she tried to sit up, Astrid gasped with an aggressive, stilted inhalation, wheezing as her breath was caught in her throat. Her eyes went wide and she tried to force loud, strained breaths out of her mouth. **_"_Heeee! Huurgh!"**

_**"Easy... easy!"**_ a familiar voice snapped suddenly from right next to her, groaning as the hands made Astrid rest her head back on the pillow again. Astrid stopped struggling in the bed, looking up to see Valka looking down at her. _"Slowly now. Breathe in..."_

Astrid did as she was told, taking all the air she could as Valka counted four seconds on her fingers. She held her breath, before Valka said _"breathe out..."_ and Astrid released the air as Valka counted another four seconds. _"There... wasn't so hard, was it?"_

Astrid couldn't open or even feel her right eye, and it was as if someone were covering it so she could only see out the left. She looked around, realising that she was in a hospital ward, wearing a scrub and hooked up to an IV drip. Her entire body ached, but her stomach area was in particular agony. The open window indicated that it was daytime outside, so she must have been out for a good while since the fight.

"Val..." she managed to get out of her mouth, finally noticing that Valka had small, dried streams that led from her eyes to her chin, clearly indicating that she'd been crying. Valka didn't look upset, however, mostly disappointed, stern, possibly even angry. "Where uh... where's Hiccup?"

_"Waiting room. He was here all night but... but Stoick finally got him to lie down and get some sleep."_ Valka sniffled a bit. _"That was about a half hour ago, so... I reckon it'd be best if we don't tell him you're awake yet."_

Astrid nodded as she looked down at the bed she was in, pressing her hand lightly to her stomach before taking it away again after feeling more pain. "What... ugh... what did the twins do to me?"

_"Well... from what I've read in Gobber's report..."_ Valka rolled her eyes as she pretended to think, counting each of Astrid's injuries on her finger. _"Three broken ribs, internal bleeding, minor skin breakage from the scratches on your chest and the bite on your shoulder, numerous punctures and lacerations from the thumbtacks and wire... swelling on the right eye, but not likely to result in any permanent vision damage. Overall... you'll live."_

"Yeah... maybe I shouldn't have..." Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose. Valka almost seemed to have taken outright offence to this remark, sighing angrily as she got out of the chair and walked over to the other end of the room. Astrid scoffed, before saying "what?! I lost, Val... alright, I fucking lost. I don't know what happened, I... I just... at least if she killed me I'd go out with a bang, you know... just like Un..."

_"Do not mention that name, Astrid. Listen to what I have to say, right now."_ Valka turned back around to face Astrid, putting her hands on the end of the bed. Her tone was a lot more blunt when she said _"I really could not give less of a fuck about you losing. And you need to understand this... I really do not have any sympathy for you, whatsoever."_

"And here I was expecting words of encouragement..." Astrid snarked with a groan as she tried to get herself comfortable. Valka wasn't amused, at all, remaining stern faced as she continued her lecture.

_"You don't need encouragement, or sugarcoating, or whatever you want to call it. What you need is the truth, and the truth is... I knew this'd happen to you eventually. And a part of me feels that you knew as well. Yet you took the fight anyway. You got yourself into this, and you're lucky to still be alive after it. So if you start sprouting that pessimistic, suicidal crap again, you're leaving this hospital. Through that window there. Understand?"_

Astrid was taken back a bit by this, but she nodded after a brief moment of fearful hesitation, prompting Valka to exhale as she calmed down and sat again. She rubbed the back of her head as she lurched forwards in the chair, not looking Astrid in the face.

_"Besides... apparently, you're um... well, you're still keeping that... that fucking title."_

"Wait..." Astrid cleared her throat as she managed to force herself to sit back up. "What? How... how uh..."

_"That Sven bloke. Cam rang earlier, she says he's talking to the... the committee, or whatever the fuck is it, I dunno... he's claiming that Ruffnut can't have the title cause her brother got involved. Illegal interference, or something like that... that Johann one's pissed about the thought of her being disqualified."_

Astrid chuckled a bit at this, before drooping her head down with a sigh. "It is, like... coming out, or what?"

_"They're um... they're discussing it."_ Valka grumbled, before wiping the side of her own face as she stood up. _"At least, now that you know, I don't have to waste time thinking about it anymore."_

"Val..." Astrid's voice stopped her as she reached the doorway, prompting Valka to look back at her with that same cold, disapproving face. "I'm sorry, but... but I didn't know what else I could have done... I mean, what else could..."

_"Probably could have had a bit more sense."_ Valka scoffed with a brow raised. _"But it's happened. Fuck it. Just try and get some rest."_

Valka closed the door as she left the room, leaving Astrid alone in there. After glancing around the room again Astrid realised that there was a TV hooked up on the wall in the corner, and the remote was on the table just to her right.

She had to struggle to grab it, since she had to reach, and also having to use her right hand since she couldn't roll over with her ribs. After about a minute of this effort, she eventually got a hold of the remote and sat upright on the bed, pressing the top red button to switch on the TV and change it to the news channel.

* * *

**_"In Sport Today, BMCA fighter Astrid Hofferson, professionally known by the stage name The Deadly Nadder, has been placed in Berk County Hospital today following her defeat at the hands of twin siblings Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thornton, AKA the Zipplebacks, last night. Hofferson reportedly received multiple injuries from the fight, including three broken ribs, but is expected to be making a full recovery."_**

* * *

She instantly switched the TV back off again, sighing as she put the remote back on the table and rested back on the bed again. The stinging in her stomach came back again, and Astrid had to bite her bottom lip to fight through it before she got her pillow from behind her and pressed it onto her own face. **_"UGGGRRRRRAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"_**

The muffled scream she let out through the pillow must have gone on for about half a minute, possibly even more, but Astrid took it away from her face when her lungs were strained to the point where she could barely speak.

_"Nice going..."_ she whispered bitterly to herself as she finally closed her eyes and tried to get back to sleep. _"Great fucking job."_


	22. Assurance

The next two days were a slog to get through, for everyone involved. Astrid felt like she was constantly high off the morphine, since when she wasn't under it her body was in absolute agony. Sven occasionally dropped in to update her on his meetings with the committee, but it was mostly vague assurances that he was _"working on it"_, so there was nothing concrete yet. Stoick visited as well a couple times, mostly to check on Hiccup since he was apparently camped out in the waiting room, but Valka had apparently said all she needed to say to Astrid when she first woke up.

Astrid had been told she was recovering fine and would be discharged midweek, but she was advised to not do anything that could further injure her ribs for the next six weeks. The swelling on her face had gone down quite a bit, since she could actually open her right eye now. At the moment, Astrid was just sitting silently in her bed, while Hiccup was sat hunched on a small chair at the other end of the room.

This was the third time Astrid had actually seen Hiccup in that period, and he looked even worse than the first two times. His green shirt was soaked with sweat, he had huge bags under his eyes, his face was a pale pink colour and, if Astrid had to take a guess, she assumed he'd only had about four hours of actual sleep since the fight. Knowing Hiccup, he'd probably been refusing to sit down and rest with Astrid where she currently was. She didn't like this, and she had to do something about it.

_"Hiccup..."_ her voice was gentle as she said this but he still shot up like a bullet, an almost panicky tone in his voice when he ran over to her bed. She was in enough pain without him cutting her right to her heart with this, but she had to keep a straight face when she looked at him.

"Uh... yeah? Yeah, what's wrong?"

_"Oh uh... nothing, it's just... ugh..."_ Astrid sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, letting Hiccup take a few steps back as he relaxed a bit. _"Hiccup, you look exhausted. You need to get some sleep."_

"Astrid, right now I'm at my most awake, I just..." Hiccup was cut off when he had to let out a yawn, which lasted a good five seconds and blatantly contradicted his words. He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand, prompting Astrid to chuckle as she said _"alright... come here."_

"Wait, wha... what are you doing?" Hiccup went a little wide-eyed as Astrid shuffled to the right side of the bed she was in, leaving the left side of it free. She patted it with her hand as he raised an eyebrow.

_"Come on... in you get."_

He scoffed, saying "Astrid, you cannot be serious right now. I can't get in bed with you while you're a patient. It's not..."

_"Hiccup, I'm injured, not sick. And you need to sleep on something that's not a plastic bench in the waiting room."_

"Astrid, seriously, I..."

_"Hey, either you get in here with me or I put you in here and I take the bench in the waiting room..."_ Hiccup sighed as Astrid said this, knowing full well that he was not going to win this argument. He looked at her for a moment, and the smug, almost mischievous little grin on her face wasn't helping him at all. He eventually smirked back, saying "alright... fine."

_"Trust me, you'll thank me for this..."_

"Yeah, well I can't promise I'll actually sleep..."

* * *

He'd barely been in there a minute and Hiccup was out cold and snoring while one of his arms was looped over Astrid's shoulder. Her arms were wrapped around his waist and her head was tucked under his chin. She chuckled as she looked at him, affectionately cupping his face and tilting it towards her own.

_"Hmm... you have the most adorable snoring I've ever heard..."_ she whispered to him, though Hiccup was clearly too deep in his sleep to hear what she was saying. She relaxed back under his chin again, only to jolt up when the door flew open.

"Right, I've got good news!" Sven's voice suddenly became louder than usual when he came in. Astrid went wide-eyed and shushed him quickly as he froze, sitting up in the bed while she let Hiccup sleep still.

_"Sven, just... ugh... what's the news?"_

"Aye, well..." Sven cleared his throat and his voice went back to it's normal volume. Just when he was about to say something, another thought came to his head as he looked at Hiccup in the bed. "Is he even allowed to be doing that?"

_"It doesn't matter... I told him to do it... so, what's the news?"_

"Right, well... the committee have spoken to me and made their decision. You're still the champion."

_"Wait, really?!"_

"Aye. We got them on Illegal Interference in a title fight."

_"Huh... wow, just..."_ Astrid exhaled in relief, rubbing the back of her head. _"Well, that... that's great, it's fantastic. So what did they say, then? It's like a misfight or something, right? Off the system?"_

"Hmm... not exactly..."

Astrid's smile sank as he said this. _"What exactly is... not exactly?"_

"Tuffnut's involvement only invalidates Ruffnut's claim to the title." Sven sounded regretful. "The three-count pin still applies. Thorston still won the fight, according to the records."

_"Ugh... right, right..."_ Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose. _"So... so it's still a loss?"_

Sven shrugged, saying "well, look on the bright side. You still have the title, eh?"

**_"Well what's the fucking point of... ugh..."_** Astrid stopped and took a deep breath since she didn't want to wake Hiccup with her shouting, waiting a moment before she spoke in a calmer yet no less spiteful tone. _"What's the point of keeping the title if I'm not undefeated? What do you think they're gonna say about this?"_

"Hmm... I suppose... well, there's really nothing we can really do about that, Astrid..."

_"Nothing we can do about what? The fact that they're gonna call me a fraud? I'll be a fucking laughing stock, Sven..."_

Sven groaned, saying "I'm sorry, Astrid, I really am, but... the committee's made their decision." Sven walked towards the door. "Just get some rest... we'll talk about this when you're feeling better."

_"What more is there to talk about?"_ Astrid snarked as she rubbed her face with the back of her hand. _"Ugh... just go, alright?"_

* * *

**Great Hall - Berk Town Centre (After Hours)**

_**"I don't fucking believe this!"**_ Ruffnut stormed through the door with her brother and Johann following her into the empty arena. **_"I beat her like a damn throw-rug and she still gets that fucking title!"_**

Johann pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning back against the wall as Ruffnut paced back and forth in frustration. "When the committees decides it, it's decided."

**_"You're the one who said this was gonna be fucking easy!"_** Ruffnut snapped at him. Tuffnut nodded at what she said, before adding **"yeah, you told us it'd be foolproof!"**

"Clearly neither of you can see the bigger picture here." Johann had a smug grin on his face as both Ruffnut and Tuffnut went wide-eyed. "She's keeping the title for now, but she lost. This fight has just about proven my theory, as I thought it would."

_"Oh great..."_ Ruffnut rolled her eyes in annoyance. _"I can't wait to hear this."_

"The Deadly Nadder used to fight wars in the ring, but now she has something she didn't before." Johann chuckled. "Something to lose. A distraction. A weakness."

The twins had calmed down a bit now to listen to what Johann had to say, letting him speak while he casually checked his fingernails for dirt without even looking at them.

"Ever since she got back in touch with Stoick's scrawny little animal lover of a son, she's been growing soft. Showing more restraint, getting injured less, taking fewer fights. I knew what happened here was bound to come about eventually, it was practically destined to do so. And being a man of great hindsight, it was only right that we be the ones to cash in on it."

_"But what about the title?!"_

"The title will come in good time." Johann seemed more assertive than before as he said this. "Her body will mend itself, but her confidence is just about shattered. She'll either lose it herself or quit altogether and vacate... then the pair of you keep on winning... keep going until you get it for yourselves."

"Oh, I get it!" Tuffnut cut in as Johann and Ruffnut both looked to him. "It's like... cutting out the middle dude, right? Or, you know, not dude in this case..."

"At first, yes, Master Tuffnut..." Johann then grabbed Ruffnut by the shoulders to confidently look her in the face. "But then when you have the title... _you_, Miss Ruffnut, will challenge the Deadly Nadder to face you once again! We'll have to goad her, to dog her, to do everything we can to get her to accept... and then you'll beat her properly, to the point where even Sven will be find a loophole... and that, Miss Ruffnut... is why my plan is foolproof."

The twins both looked to each other as Johann got a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. Ruffnut took her brother's casual shrug as a form of agreement, nodding as she turned back to face Johann with her hands on her hips.

_"Alright... alright, Johann... we're in."_

"Excellent, dear Thorstons..." Johann took a puff of his cigarette as he walked over to the poster of Astrid and Ruffnut that was still hung in front of the ring. He grinned as he pressed the lit end of the cigarette right where Astrid's face was on the poster, letting the sheet burn from that point as he took another casual puff of it.

"All we have to do now is wait..."


	23. Engaged

**Three Days Later**

**_"Gods. How many fucking steps are there on this thing?!"_** Astrid whined when she realised they were only just halfway up the staircase towards Hiccup's apartment door. He rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking, since she was the one that actually insisted on not using the elevator. Not that he would have argued with her.

"Well... funny, cause the last few years I've lived here I never actually bothered to count..." Hiccup let her start walking first and then followed a step or three behind her.

_Alright, remember what Mom said_, he thought to himself over and over again. Not that it was a hard mantra to remember, since he'd remembered the first week after his accident when he eavesdropped on her saying it about him to his father and Cami.

* * *

_He's going to have trouble walking and standing up. Don't panic when it happens. Help him if he wants it, but don't smother him with it._

* * *

"So, uh..." he skipped a few steps so he was now walking next to Astrid instead of behind her. He thought about what to say, before finally coming out with "I take it you're gonna be out of action for a while, then..."

_"Hiccup, I... I just don't know.. **ugh**... I mean... **ow**... I mean it's not like I can just **RRRAAAGGHHH!**"_

Ribs again. The pain tore through her stomach and she was biting her lip hard to try and stop it. She ended up clutching her midsection with one hand and hanging tight onto the railing of the staircase with the other, eventually being forced onto one knee as she continued crying out with her head facing the step.

"Astrid!" Hiccup immediately darted up to where she was and had barely put his hands on her shoulders before she forced him off of her.

**_"No-no-no-don't-help-me! Don't!" _**She snapped suddenly as she put one hand up to halt him, still covering her stomach with the other as a tear forced its way out of her tightly shut eyes and rolled down her cheek._ "Don't... don't help me, I... ugh..."_

"Astrid, it... it's okay, ha-ha... I'm pretty beat too." Hiccup knew he was going to kick himself later for his poor choice of words, but he kept a calm tone as he slowly lowered himself down and sat on the step, letting Astrid turn herself around so she was sitting up next to him. He didn't touch her, but kept one of his hands a few inches away from her back in case he had to stop her from hitting her spine against the step.

She managed to open her eyes, calming down a bit as the agony slowly went away. Her breathing was slower, but still too fast, almost panting as she tried to gather as much air in and out of her lungs as quickly as possible.

"Are you, uh... are y'okay?" he eventually managed to ask, letting Astrid take a few deep breaths before she finally forced out a nod.

_"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine... uh... thanks..."_ she wheezed out in response, rubbing the back of her neck. _"Ugh... a hundred-twenty-eight."_

"Huh?"

_"A hundred-twenty-eight. It's how many fights I've won."_

"Hm... well, a hundred-twenty-eight wins and one loss isn't that bad, right? I'd say it was a pretty great record."

_"Uncle Finn's was two-hundred-sixty-seven..."_

"Right, okay... and how many did he..."

_"None."_ Astrid snapped bluntly, though Hiccup could also see despite the straight face she was trying to keep that some tears were forming in her eyes, no doubt from the onslaught of thoughts that were running through her head. _"It's tainted, Hiccup... my record, my reputation, my uncle's, it's... it's fucking tainted! I... I don't even know what I'm supposed to..."_

"Alright, just calm down, it's... it's fine... it's just a slip-up, right... nobody's perfect, Astrid..." he gently placed a hand on her shoulder as he said this, keeping a smile on his face as she turned to look at him. "Look, you have good days and bad days. That's just life. Hey, you want tainted, look at me... look at this! Ha ha!"

Astrid let out a weak little chuckle as Hiccup pointed towards his prosthetic, but tensed and started holding her stomach again as she felt a brief spike of agony for a moment. She then sighed as it went away, looking to the floor and wiping her face with the back of her forearm.

_"Hiccup, I... I'm fucked up... alright, I... like this, I... I don't be anyone's problem, especially not yours... I... ugh..."_

"Astrid. I... I know how y'feel..." Hiccup's tone had lost any sense of humour as he looked slightly away from her, clearly indicating that his own uncomfortable memories were resurfacing again. "Like a waste of space, right?"

_"Oh, you're so reassuring."_

"No, I'm serious... y'know, when... when I had my accident, the first six months... well, for lack of a better phrase, it was a _shit-show_ for everyone... could barely stand up half the time, _definitely_ couldn't make it up any staircases like I can now... ugh... the truth is, I felt... _useless_."

Astrid sighed weakly, before he added "and I didn't wanna ask for help, y'know the whole... the whole Viking way, but... no matter how stubborn I got, no matter how independent I was trying and failing to be... nobody ever stopped helping. Mom, Dad, Gobber, Cami, they... they never stopped letting me know how much I mattered to them, and how much they wanted me to be... well, to be _me_ again. I couldn't have gotten back on my feet without them."

He quickly wiped his face so Astrid couldn't see him crying, and cleared his throat as he took his hand from her shoulder and placed it on her knee while she looked back at him. _"Hiccup... I really don't know..."_

"Astrid Hofferson, you're the toughest woman I've ever known... you can pull through this... _we_ can pull through this." Hiccup's tone of voice was now giving the impression that he'd never been more confident in any other statement he'd made in his entire life. "And we will. I promise."

A few seconds later, he stood back up and offered Astrid his hand, letting her take it so he could pull her back up to her feet. She was still holding the railing to steady herself, but seemed to have regained some of her familiar confidence. _"So... hmm... how many more steps?"_

"Ha ha... not too many now, Milady..."

* * *

"Holy shit, finally! About damn time you got back!" As soon as they walked in to the apartment Cami took Astrid's hand and led her over to the couch in front of the TV, sitting her down and putting a blanket over her.

_"Cami, I don't... ugh... I don't need all this shit."_

"Well that's not what Valka said." Cami had a slight smirk across her face but her tone still betrayed her concern as she walked over to the TV. "You want this on?"

_"Sure, why not...?"_ Astrid apathetically rested her head back on the couch with her forearm covering her eyes as Cami switched on the television.

* * *

**_"Tonight on Sports Entertainment News! We got reports saying the Deadly Nadder is now out of hospital following her humiliating defeat at the hands of her old enemies, the Zippleback Twins!"_**

* * *

"Uh... hey Cami... maybe the sports channel isn't such a good choice..." Hiccup snarked as he stood behind the couch, gently caressing the top of Astrid's head while she had her hands over his.

"Yep. On it." Cami picked the remote off of the table and changed it to the first channel, _BBS (Berk Broadcasting System)_.

* * *

**_"In other news. Former BMCA champion Astrid Hofferson, known by her fighting name The Deadly Nadder, has been discharged from hospital today following..."_**

* * *

"Y'know what, I think TV's overrated... ha ha..." Cami turned off the screen and put the remote back on the table, before going to a chair in the kitchen and taking a handful of towels off of it. "Hey, Hiccup, you can uh... y'can take it from here, right?"

"Uh... yeah. Yeah, sure..." Hiccup let out a little smirk at Cami, who gave him a thumbs-up in response as she said "great. All the same to you guys, I'm gonna go take a bath. Last couple days have been stressful for me too, y'know."

"Oh for the love of... ugh. **Cami, if you clog the drain with hair again, I will actually sue you! And I mean it this time!** Trust me..." Hiccup called to her, laughing as Cami flipped the bird at him without turning as she went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. He walked around the couch so he could sit next to Astrid, putting his arm around her shoulder as she rested her head on his, with neither of them saying anything for a good five minutes.

Astrid eventually sighed to break the silence. _"Hiccup..."_

"Uh... yeah."

_"I... I'm sorry."_

"Sorry? What for?"

_"Your mom was right, I... I shouldn't have taken that fucking fight, it... it was selfish, and stupid, and... and now I'm in this state, and... oh gods..."_

"Astrid. It's okay."

_"Hiccup, I really don't want you to keep telling me that..."_ she pulled away from him a bit and sat up, her face going slightly red and her eyes were starting to well up a bit as she started to hyperventilate. _"You keep saying... saying that it's okay, but I don't think that it is... and I... and I don't think you do either."_

"Astrid... it..."

**_"OKAY?! IS THAT SERIOUSLY ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!"_** Astrid shoved his shoulder as hard as she could, but he was able to resist it and keep sitting up. **_"Ugh! Why is it so hard to admit that I fucked up here, Hiccup?!"_**

"Well why is it so hard for _you_ to accept that I don't care about that?" his voice was both firmer and gentler than she'd expected it to be. He hesitated for a moment, but managed to put a hand on her shoulder as he looked her in the eye, a warm and loving smile on his face. "Astrid. I don't care about you losing. Alright, I don't care about you record, or what you think people are gonna say about you keeping the title..."

He took a deep breath, bringing his hand down to take her own. "I'm just glad that you're still here. With me. I've never been more scared in my entire life than when the twins did that to you, Astrid... after what happened to your uncle, I... oh shit... I'm sorry, I... just forget it."

She gripped the hand that he was holding hers with as he looked away from her, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. _"Say what you need to say, Hiccup."_

He straightened up and looked back at her again, staying silent for a good thirty seconds as he struggled to find what else to say. "After your uncle, I've spent every single one of your fights worried sick, in case you... in case you didn't... you know..."

Astrid sniffled a bit with a nod. _"Yeah."_

"But having you here, in one piece, alive, it... it's all I'm concerned about, and it's all I need from you. It's more to me than any title you could possibly win." she smiled at him as he rubbed his thumb over her hand, letting him brush her lips with a light, gentle little kiss.

"And yeah, this..." he pointed to her ribcage. "That's gonna be Hel for both of us, but... but it doesn't matter. I know you'd be there for me if I was like this, and I wanna always be there for you. I love you, Astrid Hofferson, with all that I have. And I always will. And that's why I... ugh... ah, fuck it..."

_"Aw, Hiccup. I... wait, what are you doing?"_ she went a little wide-eyed as he kept hold of her hands and stood up from the couch, exhaling to himself as he slowly tried to get down on one knee. He cleared his throat as he pulled out the small ring, causing Astrid to wheeze breathlessly with her hand over her heart.

"Astrid Hofferson. Will you ma..."

**_"Are you serious?!" _**he froze when Astrid said this, both of them looking nervously bewildered at one another as she thought about what to say.

"Uh..."

_**"Yes!"**_ she suddenly said, holding her hands over her mouth as tears streamed down her face. **_"Yes-yes-yes! Of course I will!"_**

"Oh, Astrid, that... that's great. Whoa!" Hiccup was caught off guard when Astrid leapt off the couch and wrapped him into a tight hug, kissing his cheek and face everywhere she saw an opening.

**"Hey Hiccup, do you have any idea if this shampoo has stuff I'm allergic to in it because I'm not too sure if I should have used... _oh_..."**

They both looked to the bathroom door where Cami was standing, a towel being wrapped around her hair with another wrapped tight around her body. She was holding a handled bath sponge in one hand and a bottle of the shampoo she was talking about in the other, and her face was frozen with questions at the sight of Hiccup being down on one knee while Astrid had her arms wrapped around him.

"Uh... what did I miss?"


	24. Comment

**Three Months Later**

**_"Well here I am now with tonight's winner, so... to start off with, congratulations on your win tonight, Miss Thorston. And really, congratulations on your recent success rates in general."_**

_"Yeah. Thanks. Pretty easy one tonight, I'd say."_

**_"Absolutely. Well, I might as well cut right to the chase and ask what I'm sure is on everyone's minds, but... how are you feeling now after your controversial loss to the Deadly Nadder three months ago?"_**

_"Well you know I... **wait**... what did you just say?!"_

**_"Hmm. Perhaps I misworded my statement, Miss Thorston. I was referring to the fight where Astrid Hofferson..."_**

_"I was disqualified from getting the title. Yeah, but I did not lose. Okay?! I kicked her ass, and she's not fought since. Why in the fuck would you say I lost?!"_

**_"A poor choice of words that I take full responsibility for. Now, Miss Thorston..."_**

_"It doesn't matter that her asshole of a manager pulled those strings. I'll be champ soon enough and there's nothing she can do about it."_

_**"I'm sure you're already aware, Miss Thorston, but Miss Hofferson is obligated to accept a title challenge within the next four weeks or else she'll have to va..."**_

_"Yeah, I know! Dumbass, that's why I'm doing this!"_

**_"Miss Thorston, we did this before. Please don't take my micropho..."_**

_"Choice is yours, Astrid! You either give that title to me now or we get in this ring and I take it anyway. Either way I prove you're a fake!"_

**_"I have a feeling we should start sending different reporters to talk to you from now on."_**

* * *

**Temporary New Management (HicTooth Diaries #347)**

_**"Hey there gang. Hiccup here. I'm just gonna show some cool stuff that Toothless is up to! A ha ha ha!"** a female voice cackled as the video started, the person it belonged to clearly making her voice higher and more nasally to imitate Hiccup's._

_Astrid coughed to get her voice back to normal, letting out her usual chuckle as she brought the camera outside to where Toothless and Hookfang's enclousres were. **"Just kidding, guys... it's Astrid. Hiccup's out of town for today, so Cami's letting me look after the boys while he's gone. Apparently the only thing I'm not allowed to do is get on the other side of this fence here."**_

_She let the camera focus on the large tray of raw chicken she was holding as she brought it over to the fence, where the leopard was licking it's lips. **"Hello Toothless... you hungry today bud?"**_

_Astrid made a little kissing noise with her mouth as she slid the tray under the fence so Toothless could go to it, leaving the camera focused on the leopard as he started eating it, before moving to the next side of the fence where the tiger was waiting. **"Come on Hookfang... din-din."**_

_She slid a second tray under Hookfang's fence as he began eating from it, rubbing the back of his neck affectionately with her hand. **"So, good news is Hiccup tells me that I'm really getting the hang of this whole animal welfare thing. This rate, I'll probably be a more regular guest star on this little vlog show of his... hopefully you guys are all, uh... okay with that..."**_

_Astrid sat on the bench about a dozen feet away from the fences, letting the camera focus on both cats as they continued eating. After a moment of silence, she brought her left hand into the frame and held it up for the camera to focus on her ring. **"I know a lot of people are asking Hiccup when the wedding's actually gonna be happening, but we just don't know yet. We're definitely going ahead with it, but... well, we got some stuff to figure out and we don't wanna commit to an exact date in case we delay it... just gonna wait til the schedule's cleared up, you know?"**_

_She pulled her hand away to let the camera focus on the cats again. **"We'll get to it eventually, though... eventually..."**_

* * *

**Later**

_"So... what are they, uh... what's happening?"_ Astrid's tone of voice was almost nervous as she came into the reception area, where Cami was sitting at the desk looking at the video on her phone. It had only been up for two hours and there were at least three hundred comments and an overpowering like-to-dislike ratio.

Cami smirked with a chuckle as she continued reading through them. "I gotta give it to you, Ast... you're a big hit."

_"Wow... really?"_ Astrid's face lit up a bit as she shuffled over to the desk, sitting next to Cami so she could see the phone. _"What are they actually saying, though...?"_

* * *

**Oh. My. GODS! ****That ring is all kinds of gorgeous! Bit congrats!**

**#Hiccstrid is my OTP!**

**She's great with those animals for a first-timer. Clearly Hiccup's been rubbing off on her (more ways than one I bet, LOL)**

**You're perfect for each other! All the best!**

* * *

_"Hmm..."_ Astrid nodded confidently as she strode to the other side of the desk, grabbing one of the Sanctuary-themed caps from the pile and putting it on her head. _"Well. Guess I'd better get used to this, huh Cam?"_

"Yeah I guess so... Ugh..." when she heard Cami say this, Astrid turned back around to face the latter as she titled her chair a bit, obviously trying to keep Astrid from actually seeing the phone. "Fucking asshat..."

_"What is it?"_

"Nothing, it just... just a... nothing, it's fine." Cami tried to scroll the screen down but was unable to stop Astrid from taking the phone out of her hands to see what the next chain of comments said. "Astrid, I wouldn't do that if I were... ugh, man..."

Cami had to look away as soon as she noticed Astrid's face drop, clearly indicating that she'd spotted the comment that Cami had been trying to hide from her.

* * *

**LOL! As if this bitch actually got engaged to distract from that bullshit she pulled with the Thorston fight. Fucking pathetic.**

* * *

Astrid didn't say anything, but it was clear that she was being shaken to the core by what she was reading. It was also clear that the twelve replies to this comment weren't going to be any nicer about her, but she wasn't going to stop reading them.

* * *

**You just know the Nadder was one of those bratty kids who'd always change the rules of the game when she was losing.**

**Overrated AF. Always was, that fight just proved it. #ThorstonForTheWin.**

**I love how no-one else will go with her so she goes with some one-legged pussy who does cat videos. What a total whore.**

* * *

Astrid didn't say anything as she gave the phone back to Cami, but Cami didn't need her to say anything to know how she was feeling. She stood up from the desk with her arms crossed and a sour look on her face, and she was clearly trying to keep her breath from getting too loud, almost as if she were hyperventilating.

"Hey Nad? Astrid?" As soon as Cami said this Astrid shot up and brushed her bangs into her face. Astrid was being totally silent outside of the occasional heavy inhale, but Cami didn't need words to figure out that the comments were getting to her. "Ast?"

_"Uh-huh?"_

"You okay?"

_"Yeah. Yeah I'm alright..."_ Astrid was trying and failing to sound confident as she looked at the door in front of her, not wanting her reddening face to be seen. _"I'm fine, I... why would I not be alright...?"_

"Astrid, they're just assholes. I remember when me and Al first came out, they said way worse things than that..." Cami reached back into her mop of hair to itch the back of her neck as she looked down to the floor. "But the truth is... people are like that sometimes, especially on the internet."

_**"That's not the fucking point, Cam!"**_ Astrid shot back around to snap this, instantly regretting that action as she exhaled and brushed her hair out of her face. Her tone was a little more relaxed, almost apologetic, when she spoke again. _"Look, it... it doesn't matter that they're riding my ass about the fight, I can handle that, but... ugh... why would those fucking morons bring Hiccup into this?! He has nothing to do with BMCA, nothing! They should go after me, and only me!"_

Cami let out a soft little chuckle. "Ast, Hiccup's a big boy... he can handle stuff like this... trust me, he's been through worse than a couple of nasty comments..."

Astrid continued looking to the window for almost a minute, but now she couldn't help but notice that Cami was rubbing her forearm as she said this, the right one that she had covered with the fingerless black glove. She wasn't in the mood to ask about it, not at this point anyway, so she just grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

"Wait... Ast? Ast, where are y'going?"

_"I gotta go talk to Val..."_


	25. Approval

**Haddock Home - Eight Years Earlier**

_**"Oof! Whoa! AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"**_

Ruffnut was launched to the other side of the back yard, landing face-first on the grass as Astrid landed on her back to keep her pinned down. She grabbed Ruffnut's leg and started casually twisting it at the ankle, making Ruffnut cry out as she shot her head up and said _**"HEY! I give up! Ow!"**_

Carelessly dropping Ruffnut's leg on the ground again, Astrid smirked as she got up and dusted herself off. She brushed her hair out of her eyes as Hiccup and Tuffnut came into the garden, taking Hiccup away from the twins as Tuffnut helped his sister up.

"Huh... so what's your uh... you know... score?" Hiccup briefly glanced at the dirtied, beaten Ruffnut as Astrid leaned confidently against the fence behind her. Hiccup was wearing his old craft apron and holding his father's toolbox, and Astrid noticed the twins putting on their own as Stoick came out holding several planks of wood to the back corner of the garden.

_"8 to me. Nil to Ruff."_

"Ah. Course it is..." Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose with a chortle, but it was at this point that Astrid realised he was wearing his old craft apron. "Well, I'd hate to interrupt your... whatever this was, but we'll probably need Ruff to help us finish the shed."

_"Doubt she'll be of that much use... she should probably keep away from the power tools too."_ Astrid and Ruffnut shared a smirking glance at one another as she said this. _"But since I'm generous, Hiccup, I'll let you have her."_

"Hmm. Well, your generosity is much appreciated, Miss Hofferson." Hiccup gave a dramatic, gentlemanly bow as Astrid gave an equally dramatic, ladylike curtsy. She immediately gave him a punch on the shoulder and ruffled his hair after this, brushing her own bangs aside as she headed to the door.

_"I'll see you tomorrow, Hiccup..."_

"Yep. If I don't get killed by a collapsed shed." Astrid chuckled as Hiccup said this. Ruffnut finished tying up her apron as she called out. _"Hey Ast! I'm kicking your ass next time! Don't you worry!"_

Astrid scoffed in response, answering back with _"oh yeah, I'm counting on it!"_ before she closed the sliding glass door and left.

* * *

_**KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!**_

Astrid noticed Valka's eyes widen slightly as soon as she opened the door to see her there. Astrid would usually visit Valka at the hospital when she was on her shift, and whenever she did visit the Haddock home it was usually with Hiccup, so seeing her here by herself was clearly a shock.

"Oh... Astrid, I... I wasn't expecting this..."

_"Yeah... yeah I know, Val. Is uh... is Stoick here?"_

"Hmm? Oh no, he's sorting something out at the station... they called him in at the last minute." Valka leaned against the front door as she said this.

_"Great, cause... cause I need to talk to you. Alone."_

"Right." Valka clearly wasn't enthusiastic about this as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do, um... do you want to come in?"

_"Uh-huh. Yeah, if... that's okay...?"_ Astrid took a few steps back on the porch as Valka opened the door fully, clearing her throat as she shuffled past her and through the hallway to the living room. She'd been here more than enough times to make herself at home, going straight over to the couch that was in front of the sliding glass door leading to the backyard.

The shed outside caught her eye when she sat down, the same one that the twins had helped Hiccup and Stoick build all those years ago. It was such a regular part of the house now that she wouldn't even notice it usually, but with that memory playing in her head today it was the first thing that got her attention. All things considered, it was still standing after all this time. Whether they really were that good at building sheds or if Stoick had been regularly tending to it was hard to tell, but Astrid had to give credit where it was due, even if she and the twins weren't on good terms anymore.

"Right. I'm just going to start things off..." Valka sounded somewhat annoyed when she faced Astrid from the opposite couch, resting on the armrest rather than actually sitting on the seat itself. "You're here to talk about Ruffnut again..."

_"Well... yeah, but it's not what you..."_

"No-no, no... just..." Valka was clearly trying and failing to keep herself from getting annoyed. "Ugh... I know how this goes, Astrid. We both do."

_"But Val..."_

"First you try and act like it's no big deal, and then I try and talk some sense into you, but you just get offended and shut out anything that I try to say and..."

_"Val, I'm vacating."_

"Then you storm out in a huff and slam the door and tell me to go fu..." Valka suddenly froze in the middle of her rant, having been taken off-guard by what she thought Astrid had said. "Come again?"

Astrid smirked a bit as she sighed, brushing her bangs out of her face. _"I'm not gonna defend my title. Ruff can have it. I'm vacating it."_

Valka dropped her shoulders a bit and loosened up now, clearly out of relief. "Well, I... I um... I have to be honest, dear, but... but I'm not entirely sure what to say about that..."

Astrid shrugged, saying _"you could always say that you're proud of me. That I did the right thing, or something like that... unless you don't think that I..."_

"Oh no... no, yes, well, um... ugh..." Valka pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked to the floor. She eventually looked back up at Astrid again, adding "I'm happy that you're doing this, Astrid, I am, really, it... it's just... just a little unexpected, that's all."

Astrid nodded. _"But I am doing the right thing though... aren't I?"_

"I suppose y'are, yes. Ha ha..." Valka's tone of voice indicated she was a lot more happy about this than most announcements Astrid tended to pass onto her. "If I can believe what I'm hearing, you're finally thinking sensibly."

Astrid's eyes widened a bit as Valka said this. _"What do you mean by that?"_

"Well, I've been telling you for years to put all this to rest, and you've always thrown it right back in my face. But I didn't tell y'to do this, so..."

_"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait..."_ Astrid put both her hands up as Valka stopped talking. _"I said I was vacating the title Val, not quitting completely."_

She noticed Valka's smile droop slightly with her shoulders, indicating concern at best and disappointment at worse. Astrid groaned as she stood up a bit straighter and said _"well, what did you think I was gonna do, Val? What? Am I supposed to retire with a loss?!"_

"Better that than retiring with a broken neck."

Valka raised an eyebrow as she studied Astrid's mouth, which was clearly mumbling out barely audible little curses through her gritted teeth. Astrid closed her eyes and inhaled for a moment, exhaling out the brief burst of anger Valka's remark had given her before she continued in a calmer tone.

_"Look, Val... I'm compromising here, okay? Alright, I get it, I'm not ready to fight for it again, we both know it."_

"Aye. That we do."

_"Right, but I can't just keep hold of the title, because then they're just gonna keep talking about it and calling me a fake and stuff like that."_

"Mmm hmm..."

_"So... I publicly give it up, let Ruffnut have her fun with it until I'm ready, then I kick her ass and take it back."_ Astrid relaxed a bit again. _"Simple."_

Valka had her hand on her chin with a neutral expression on her face, and Astrid had no idea how she was going to react to this. After about a minute of silence she was about to say something again, but Valka just managed to cut her off.

"I like it."

_"Wait... seriously?"_

"Aye." Valka stood up and brushed a few strands of hair out of her own face. "I mean... not thrilled about the thought of you still doing it, but at least you've admitted you're not ready to go back."

Astrid was a lot more reassured by what seemed to be Valka's approval, sitting up excitedly as she said _"well yeah, that... that's great. Val, thanks, really."_

Valka was clearly taken off-guard when Astrid wrapped her into a hug, awkwardly and almost reluctantly returning it as she patted Astrid's head with her hand. "Hmm... well, I'll still have plenty of time to change your mind before you get back into it, won't I?"

They both laughed lightly as Astrid separated from the embrace, shrugging in almost annoyance as she said _"Val, you know that's a waste of time... you know better than anyone how much I've needed BMCA."_

"So says you." Valka crossed her arms and had the look on her face that implied she was pretending to think. "Have you ever thought about therapy?"

Astrid scoffed almost theatrically, though her voice sounded somewhat weaker than usual. _"What, like a shrink? You're not serious...?"_

"Well I'm sure you'd find a way to make it intense, as you always do, and it won't end with you breaking any bones, so that'd be another win. In fact, you know Mala from the Sanctuary got her degree earlier this year... maybe I could get Hiccup to book you a..."

_"No! Especially not her__. Alright, I'm the last person on Earth that she'd want to talk to..."_

"Astrid, Mala takes her profession seriously. She's always going on about the whole... patient-therapist-confidentiality and whatnot. She wouldn't let Heather influence a meeting with a client."

_"But Val..."_

"Astrid, please!" Valka's voice had dropped into a more serious, almost begging tone as she said this, but she quickly calmed back down when she realised it for herself. She put a gentle hand on Astrid's shoulder. "Come on. Just a half hour talk with you and Mala. Just to give it a go. You could even do it in the Sanctuary... if you want..."

Astrid couldn't remember the last time she was in a argument with Valka that she knew she wasn't going to win, but she knew for certain that this was one of those conversations. So after almost a minute of contemplating silence, she eventually managed to breathe out. _"Yeah... okay, fine... I'll do it..."_

**"Ah ha! Fantastic!"** Astrid wheezed breathlessly as Valka trapped her in another hug, though she made no attempt to either escape or return the embrace.

When Valka finally released her, Astrid managed to get her voice back to it's usual power, pointing her finger sternly as she said _"but... if this goes wrong... I'm not doing it again, okay?"_

"Oh aye, of course... of course, but you won't regret it, Astrid, I'm sure of it." Valka patted her proudly on the back as she led Astrid to the front door. "I'll let Hiccup know when Mala's available to see you..."

_"Uh-huh... I'm looking forward to it..."_ Astrid snarked under her breath without any enthusiasm whatsoever as she walked out the door and Valka closed it behind her. Once she knew Valka couldn't see her, she spent at least another minute almost violently pulling at her own hair and stomping her feet as she muttered and swore at herself in fury.

**_"Son of a half-troll, rat eating, mudge... bucket!"_**


	26. Therapy

**One Week Later**

**_"What do you mean rematch?! What's the fucking point?!"_**

Ruffnut stormed into the dressing room as she took off her helmet and threw it onto the couch behind her. Johann was pinching the bridge of his nose impatiently as he sat down on the couch, watching as Ruffnut looked in the mirror while taking off her face paint.

"It's the final step in the plan, Miss Thorston. You need to publicly say that you..."

**_"No it isn't!"_** Ruffnut snapped back as she turned to face him. **_"It was the backup plan in case she didn't vacate! She's vacated and it's mine, so why the fuck would I wanna put it on the line against her again!"_**

"If you want anyone to take you seriously as a champion, Miss Thorston, you need to beat her even worse than before. Show the world that Astrid was never meant to hold that title. And..."

**_"But what's the point?!"_** Ruffnut whined. **_"She let me have it! She doesn't want it! Why do I need to prove anymore than I already have?!"_**

"Because this is the final step in your revenge plan, Ruffnut! Everything from your altercation in the Pizza Hut has led to this moment!"

"I don't care!" Ruffnut groaned furiously into the pillow she had pressed into her face. "I just don't fucking care anymore! I don't care about the Pizza Hut, or evening the score, or whatever fucking reason you're trying to let this happen! I don't... fucking... CARE!"

Johann remained calm, watching as Ruffnut lay back in the chair pinching the bridge of her nose as she exhaled in frustration. _"Look Johann, I... I__ appreciate everything you've done for my brother and me... but... ugh... but I don't wanna fight Astrid anymore."_

Johann's eye twitched a bit and his hand frantically started tapping in frustration on his kneecap, indicating that he didn't like the sound of what he was hearing. "Come again?"

_"I'm just saying... I beat her, I proved my point, I... I don't want anything from her anymore, and... and I'd rather not have her be the person that I always get asked about for the rest of my life, you know..."_

"Hmm..."

_"And I thought... maybe we could, I dunno... get back to the way it used to be..."_

"Used to be? How do you mean?"

_"Yeah, you know... I mean, if you really think about it, it's kinda because of Astrid that I go this far..."_ Ruffnut was a little unnerved when Johann's twitching became more pronounced and noticeable, but she tried her best to keep a straight face as she spoke. _"That was back when... when me and her were, like... you know, friends?"_

**"FRIENDS?!"** Ruffnut tensed back as Johann erupted into hysterical, mean-spirited laughter, almost cowering as he stood up while doing so. **"You really think she regards you as a friend? You think anyone does?!"**

_"I-I... I dunno, I just..."_

**"They don't, Ruffnut! You and your brother were nothing more than a couple of dimwitted bricks that no one would ever give the time of day... Hofferson was sick of you as was everyone else! I dragged you out of the shit and made you a star! Me, not Hofferson!"**

_"But... wha..."_

**"The only reason you two ingrates got this far was because of me!"** Johann grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up with surprising ferocity. **"I can assure you, Miss Thorston, you don't need friends when you've got me, because I sure as hell don't!"**

Ruffnut was heavily panting at a rapid pace as she felt herself welling up. _"But... but I..."_

**"If you want the world to see you as anything more than a pathetic, bumbling pair of inbreeding buffoons, you'll challenge her to a rematch and beat her so badly her grandchildren will feel it!"** Johann tightened his grip on her colour as he shook her. **"Understand?!"**

_"Uh... oh... okay...?"_ Ruffnut yelped weakly as Johann dropped her and she fell back in her chair, looking up fearfully at him as he straightened his hair and suit.

"Good... now, once we've sorted out a speech for your challenge, you can officially announce it at your next fight..." Johann's voice was suddenly back to it's more charming persona as he headed to the door, holding it open as he called back to her. "Now... you go out there with that brother of yours and make us all some good old money!"

* * *

Of all the times Astrid had been to the Sanctuary since her first date with Hiccup, this was by far the most uncomfortable. She was practically being suffocated in the small, roughly textured armchair she was sat in, and the annoying tick of the small office clock right behind her was piercing her ears like a knife and making her more and more on edge with every second.

Mala on the other hand seemed perfectly in her element, sitting cross-legged on the opposite armchair in a professional, confident stance with a fresh new notepad opened on the first page for her to scribble a few things into it. She was humming a little tune to herself and not even facing Astrid as she wrote in it, but Astrid wasn't sure if this was reassuring her or somehow making her feel even more intimidated.

They sat like this for the first two minutes or so, before Mala finally looked up to break the silence. "So... how are you feeling, Astrid? May I call you Astrid?"

_"Uh..."_ Astrid struggled to sit up straight in the chair as she roughly cleared her throat. _"Yeah. You can, uh... you can call me Astrid, sure. I'm feeling okay, I guess...?"_

"Good." Mala seemed happy enough, with a friendly little smile on her face as she pressed the bottom button of her pen to open it. "I understand you've had some reservations about coming here to speak with me."

_"Oh, uh... no, it's nothing to do with you, I just, um... no, I just didn't think therapy was my sort of scene... no offence, but I always thought this kind of thing looked boring..."_

Mala nodded as she wrote something in her notepad, presumably paraphrasing what Astrid had just said. "I'm not sure if I agree with that. Granted, this little office of ours is a far cry from a ring in a stadium surrounded by hundreds of bloodthirsty fans, but I'll enlighten you now, Astrid... we psychiatry folks have a more stressful experience in one day than you'll have in your entire BMCA career."

_"Uh... okay..."_ Astrid glanced around herself for a moment, before lurching forward slightly so she wasn't sinking back into the chair. _"So what exactly am I supposed to do here?"_

"What do you mean?"

_"Well, you know... am I supposed to like... announce something? Like, my name's Astrid, and I'm an alchoholic, or...?"_

"Are you?"

_"Am I what?"_

"An alcoholic?"

_"What?! No, I just... that was just a stupid example, I just meant..."_

"Ah, I get what you mean now." Mala closed the notepad but kept her finger on the page she was saving. "And no. This isn't a public thing, so we don't need formal introductions or anything like that. I just want to talk about your feelings, Astrid..."

_"Okay... well, I uh... I guess... what really is there to talk about?"_

Mala's grin had drooped a bit, indicating that she wasn't getting the answer she was wanting. Nevertheless, she continued writing in her notepad. "You and I have never really spoken before now, have we?"

_"Well I haven't been intentionally avoiding you, if that's what you're trying to say..."_

"I'm not trying to say that. I'm just letting you know that I'm entitled to be as honest as I can be with you. I'm not going to be constantly gushing about Hiccstrid being my OTP and letting it eschew my judgement of you, unlike a certain co-worker of mine."

Astrid chuckled a bit at the thought of when she first got to know Cami, only for her grin to shrink a bit when she looked back at Mala. _"Well, I guess I can respect that."_

"Excellent." Mala nodded. "So I think we'll start with the obvious for today. Anger."

_"Oh gods..."_

"You've quite the reputation for that, you know." Mala continued writing casually. "Sounds like a typical diva scenario. One minute you're all nice, sweet and an inspiration to kids and all that jazz, next thing you know you're basically Cruella De Vil."

_"Okay, if this is about Heather, just tell her not to get offended by what happened, cause I'm pretty much a bitch to everybody..."_

"Oh. Including Hiccup?"

Astrid was about to say something else before she realised what Mala had just said, her tone becoming more defensive as a result. _"No, obviously not Hiccup, because he deserves better treatment than that..."_

"Oh yes, I'm sure you've always treated him with the respect and kindness he deserves." Mala said in a tone that was anything but sincere. "I mean, why else would he walk out on you in high school and stay away until you strongarmed him into a relationship?"

_"Okay, first of all... I didn't strongarm him into anything. I offered him the chance to end it and he didn't, so there..."_

"Because he couldn't possibly be regretting it now, could he?"

_"I wasn't finished. Okay? Second of all... what I said to him in high school, that whole embarrassment bullshit, it's been swept under the rug... like it never even happened."_

"Right then..." Mala chewed the backend of her pen before writing something on her notepad as she muttered under her breath. "So you're either not very good at reading people, or you're even more of a stubborn, deluded brat than I first took you for."

_"I thought you said you were supposed to be a professional?"_ Astrid had some venom in her voice as she said this. _"Professionals don't call their clients brats!"_

"Perhaps not, but they _are_ supposed to be honest..." Mala closed the notepad and removed her glasses, casually sitting up in her seat. She got out another one from her bag, one that seemed to be filled with a lot more writings as if it was for a previous client.

"It appears to me that you haven't even got the slightest clue how damaging that actually was to Hiccup... from what he's told me, most of which was before you moonsaulted your way back into his life... you got really drunk and tried to force yourself on him, threw up on his jeans and then, when you'd finally gotten sober again, told him that he was an embarrassment to you."

_"No, I was talking about the... the fucking.. **ugh!** I wasn't talking about Hiccup when I said that, okay?! Also, he cut ties with me, so that's kinda more his fault than mine, isn't it?"_

"After which you made no attempt to reconnect. You never asked Valka about him, you never checked his vlogs..."

_"That's not true! When he had his crash I..."_

"Valka told you about that, you didn't ask. And you probably didn't know that Hiccup was once diagnosed with extreme anxiety and was put on a watch list for possible early stages of depression..."

_"He..."_ Astrid's eyes went a little wider as she stopped for a moment to process this. _"He got that_ _from the leg. I think..."_

"A few days before graduation..."

_"What...?"_

"He got the diagnosis a few days before graduation. It's funny, isn't it... how much it can hurt for someone you grew up with, trusted, maybe even _loved_, to basically tell you that you mean nothing to them..."

_"I worded it wrong! Is that so bad?!"_

"Suppose we all make mistakes. Apparently it just takes longer for some of us to realise we made them..." Mala closed Hiccup's book and went back to Astrid's. The mischevious little grin on her face was indicating that she was formulating some kind of plan in her head, before she said "you know, maybe we should talk about Heather next..."

_"Yeah. I don't think we're doing that..."_

"Well that'd be a shame. You know, I actually told Heather about what we're doing here today. She told me you need medication."

Astrid slammed her fist down onto the arm of the chair as she said **_"well I think she needs a fucking kick up the ass! I'm sick of her little miss innocent in a stripper outfit routine! You can tell her that she looks..."_**

"Like a bitch in heat and that if she ever got gang raped it'd be her fault for dressing like a slut?" Mala had an eyebrow raised with a smirk as Astrid suddenly froze with a frozen face. "Fishlegs told me about when you said that... for someone who does trash talk for a living, you should really come up with more unique material instead of just quoting Mel Gibson's phone calls, you know..."

**_"Oh whatever! Heather can hate me all she wants and I don't want shit to do with her either. I was getting my family the payback it deserved! Her father made me this way!"_**

"He didn't make you this way."

**_"He fucking did so!"_**

"Your uncle made you this way."

**_"Do not bring my fucking uncle into this! It's their fault my Uncle Finn's dead!"_**

"Please... he had no one to blame but himself." Mala rolled her eyes as she scribbled in her book. "He mistimed that stupid signature of his and everyone else was put through Hel because of it."

**_"You can't tell me anything about going through Hel!"_**

**"Can't I?!"** Mala was inches away from completely losing her cool, collected demeanour. **"Dagur and I just got together when it happened, Astrid... you really think life for Oswald's family was easy after that? He was branded a murderer for what your Uncle did, they all were! Then you made everything worse with that fucking stunt you pulled with Heather, and now you're reaping the rewards for it, just like your fucking Uncle! You know they said I was an idiot for sticking with their family but I did, and I'm glad I did! Because I've been more happy with Dagur and Heather than you've ever been with anyone, Hiccup included."**

Astrid crossed her arms and was practically boiling with the last burst of frustration she had left. **_"Why should I give a fuck about what their family went through when he was the one did it?"_**

**_"Because this might be a fucking newsflash, but the world doesn't revolve around you!"_**

Astrid opened her mouth to object, but after about five seconds with her finger pointed and her mouth silently ajar, she seemed to accept Mala's point as she relaxed again and her face returned to it's usual colour. Mala similarly managed to calm down as she brushed her hair out of her face and sat back in her chair.

"Now... Astrid... do you remember what your Uncle Finn was like?"

_"What kind of a fucking question is that...? Of course I do..." _Astrid wasn't shouting like she was before, but there was clearly some energy and frustration left in her voice. Her tone became slightly more excited when it came to talking about her uncle. _"I mean, come on... he was the fucking face of BMCA! All the fucking WWE kids these days going on about John Cena, but that overrated hack doesn't have shit on Fearless Finn, believe me!"_

Mala shook her head lightly, almost chuckling. "You remember him being a bully?"

_"A what?"_

"You heard me, a bully. A pretentious, egotistical cunt of a man who everyone had to constantly pussyfoot around because of his brat temper... or did you only see his TV persona like all the other stupid little children who looked up to him back then?"

_"Okay, now I know you're just trying to gaslight me because..."_

"Do you know he didn't even tip waitresses at places where he ate? He used to think the honour of serving Fearless Finn was worth more than a tip. His nickname in the restaurant industry was apparently Thieving Finn..."

**_"So what?!"_** Astrid groaned as she tugged hard at her own hair. **_"Ugh! What is the fucking point?!"_**

"I'd say it's fairly obvious that your uncle was not, in fact, the John Cena of BMCA, Astrid. He was the Michael Jordan of BMCA and everyone over the age of thirteen fucking knew it!"

_"**I**... I didn't..."_ Astrid's usually confident look was drooping a little as she hunched and almost shrank in the chair, weakly speaking under her breath as she pressed her finger to her eyebrow. _"I didn't..."_

"Of course you fucking didn't..." Mala tutted to herself. "Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it..."

**_"Oh fuck you, I always tip my waitresses!"_**

Mala calmly put up her hand to calm Astrid down. "The point is... you were probably the only thing Fearless Finn didn't treat like shit, and this whole session's just confirmed what you've become because of his influence."

She looked down to read off the notes she'd gathered, her tone of voice being more sincere than before. "You're impatient, hot tempered, emotionally imbalanced. Astrid, it... it's like your mind is... it's stunted in the same state it was when your uncle died... I know it sounds cliched and all, but... you need help."

Astrid was clearly trying not to look Mala in the eye or hyperventilate, obviously in an attempt to not show any sign of weakness. _"I... I guess so, yeah... but I'm not taking any medication! Okay?!"_

"Okay. No medication." Mala jotted it down. "I suppose I can only recommend the alternative."

_"Which is...?"_

"Making this..." Mala spun the pen around her head as if pointing to the room they were in. "...a regular thing."

_"Ugh..."_ Astrid sat up a bit. _"So what? You're gonna be like my shrink full time or something?"_

"I reckon we ought to try this for the next few weeks, make a pattern of sorts, and then see where we go from there. I mean, you're obviously not preoccupied with anything BMCA-related at the moment..."

_"Hmm... guess not..."_ Astrid grit her teeth when she thought of this, realising that she would have no excuse to make if and when Valka wanted her to try more therapy sessions. After almost half a minute of interally arguing with herself, Astrid slowly stood up from her chair, brushed her bangs out of her face and cleared her throat._ "Alright... whatever... when are you next free?"_


	27. Internet

It was after midnight when Astrid got out of bed, walking into Hiccup's living room and opening her Ipad as she sat down on the couch. Hiccup was asleep so she had to be quiet as she switched on the small lamp on the table next to her. Logging into the tablet, she went onto Google and eventually found her way to an old discussion post on Reddit.

**Which Celebrity IRL Is NOT As Nice As They Seem?**

_"Okay... okay-okay-okay..."_ Astrid muttered to herself as she clicked on the word filter and typed _Fearless Finn_. She pressed Enter, and she slowly sank back miserably into the couch when she saw the number of entries that were showing up with that criteria. It was at least a dozen comment threads, maybe more, most likely more, all of which seemed to be just as damning of her uncle as Mala had been. But Astrid's attention was particularly drawn to a conversation with multiple replies, none of which had anything nice to say.

* * *

_I used to be a big fan of Fearless Finn, that old BMCA fighter who killed himself a few years back. When I was about eight my older sister worked at our town's Dragon's Eye restaurant and she served him once. She came back complaining that he'd given her a signed napkin instead of a tip. I thought it was awesome at the time but now that I'm older I realise what a dick move that actually was. We call him Thievin' Finn now, LOL._

_Once saw a friend putting him through the bag-check and X-Rays back when I worked for airport security, and he was a real dick to us both. Even worse, he was one of those "do you know who I am? I'm Fearless Finn Hofferson!" kind of celebs that got offended if you dare treat him like a normal person who's no better than everyone else._

_IKR. Sat across from him in a theatre lounge once and we started up a conversation. He seemed fine at first, and feeling confident I decided to pretend that I didn't know who he was. He noticed this, and was increasingly getting more and more impatient until he went to get a drink and didn't come back to the same spot._

_Never met the guy but he seemed like a real pretentious cock. The epitome of a small name with a big ego. That niece of his who's running the show now probably isn't any different._

* * *

"What are you doing up, Milady?" As soon as she heard Hiccup's voice Astrid quickly sat up and wiped the side of her face so that she didn't cry, fumbling with her hands as she mumbled with her words.

_"H... Hiccup, uh... hey, um... I uh... I just needed to check my um... something, just... sorry, it's nothing, just go back to bed..."_ Astrid gulped nervously as she crossed off the tab and put her Ipad back on the table. _"I'm fine."_

"Uh-huh..." the dry tone in Hiccup's voice indicated that he wasn't convinced, and Astrid let out a slightly frustrated exhale once he came over and sat next to her. "So I'm assuming this has something to do with your Mala session today?"

_"Well... yeah..."_

"A-yep..."

_"Hiccup... have you ever um... ugh..."_ Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose and put her hand over the one Hiccup had on her shoulder. _"Look I don't... uh... alright-alright-alright... so... say you look up to someone, right? Idolise them, you're a big fan, whatever..."_

"Uh..."

_"Alright, but then you find out that they weren't really nice people... they were actually kinda... kinda awful, and... well, have you ever been in that situation?"_

"Uh..." Hiccup's widened eyes and slightly ajar mouth indicated that he was completely dumbfounded by what she was trying to say. Nevertheless, he tried his best to think up an answer before he spoke. "Well... I guess I used to like a lot of the actors who got caught up in that whole abuse scandal... does that count?"

_"I... I guess...?"_ Astrid bit her bottom lip as she itched the back of her head, eventually just dropping all her pretences before she said _"alright... Hiccup, did you know that my uncle was a dick?"_

"Wait, what?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "You uh... you mean your Fearless Finn uncle?"

_"Yeah. He's the only uncle I had."_

"Right... and he was a dick in what way, exactly?"

_"Well, you know, in a... in a tip-hoarding, arrogant showboat kind of way..."_ Astrid hesitated before continuing. _"Apparently people in restaurants used to call him Thieving Finn."_

Hiccup had only a split-second to chuckle at this before Astrid shot an unamused glare in his direction. He gave a nervous little grin as this happened, before clearing his throat as he continued. "Well... to be honest, Astrid. I didn't really know your uncle enough to know if he was a dick or not. I mean, I only know him through you, really."

_"Yeah... yeah, I guess..."_

"You wanna ask Mom about it?"

_"Ugh, gods no. She'd never live it down if I did that."_ Astrid rolled her eyes as she let out a groan, moving closer to Hiccup as she rested her head on his shoulder. _"Hiccup, I want you to be honest with me here..."_

"Okay."

_"Do you think I'm a bitch?"_

Hiccup's face dropped a bit when she said this, and he crossed his arms awkwardly as he shuffled slightly away from her. He clearly knew that what he was going to say wasn't going to be received calmly.

"Well, uh... not to me. At least, not all the time. But you could probably be nicer to other people. Especially Fishlegs and Heather."

_**"Oh fuck off, not you too!"**_ Astrid briefly stopped to take a deep breath, letting out a frustrated exhale as she calmed back down. _"Ugh. Sorry, I just... Mala really rubbed that in yesterday."_

"Yeah, I figure she would have..." Hiccup reached his hand forwards to pat her on the back.

_"Ugh... though I guess she is... technically right."_

"Technically?" Hiccup had a brow raised as Astrid groaned again. Since she clearly wasn't in the mood to talk any further about this for the night, he moved even further away from Astrid as she yawned and pulled herself up.

_"Look Hiccup, I... I'm sorry, we... we don't need to talk about this. Especially not at this time. I think we oughta just go to bed... okay?"_

Hiccup nodded silently and reluctantly, watching Astrid go into the bedroom as he said "uh... okay. Sure."

* * *

**Two Days Later**

Astrid arrived at the Sanctuary the same time as the previous session, meeting Mala at the front entrance and following her down the hallway. As they walked, Mala was clearly trying her hardest to alleviate any tension that the previous meeting may have caused, starting with the most neutral question she could think of.

"So how are you feeling after last time, Astrid?"

_"Okay... yeah, pretty good."_ Astrid nervously brushed her hair out of her face. _"I was um... so I was looking on the internet about the Thieving Finn thing you told me about last time."_

"Oh yeah. Find anything interesting?"

_"Well, I guess interesting is one way to put it..." _Astrid laughed nervously as she said this and scratched the back of her head. _"But it seems everything I've been reading just keeps shoving it in my face that he was a dick. I saw the stories you talked about, but there were some other ones like in an airport and stuff, but... but then this one comment basically said that I'm no different from that."_

"Right..." Mala stooped when they finally reached the door and put her hand on the handle, not opening it as she looked back to Astrid. "And how did that make you feel?"

_"Well... well I dunno, I guess... I guess it made me... worried... I mean, fucking mad too, but also really worried. And it made me think that I um... that I probably need to do something to stop myself from actually becoming what they're saying about me..."_

"Hmm... interesting."

_"What?"_

"Well, it's just..." Mala coughed with her fist to her mouth, seemingly trying to clear her throat while also trying to stop herself from laughing. "I think you're on the right line of thinking with that, Astrid... and it just so happens that I've neglected to tell you something about the session today."

_"Uh... what have you not told me? Oh gods, you didn't let Toothless in, did you?"_

"Ha ha, no. I didn't let Toothless in, but... due to a scheduling inconvenience, or at least that's what I've put in the records, you're going to be sharing today's session with another client of mine."

"Oh... uh, okay...?" Astrid's raises eyebrow indicated that she still wasn't entirely sure what Mala was thinking. Nevertheless, she followed behind Mala into the room as the person already sitting in there stood up to see them both.

"Oh morning Mal. I was wondering when you were gonna-**WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING HERE?!**"

_**"Heather?!"**_ Astrid went wide-eyed as she saw who it was, while Mala simply rolled her eyes and sarcastically put out her hands.

"Surprise..." her tone of voice was deadpan but with a hint of amusement behind it. Astrid wasn't amused by this and neither was Heather, with the latter furiously grabbing her coat and bag as she tried to get up from her seat.

"I can't _fucking_ believe you lied to me about this, Mal! She's part of the reason I'm even doing fucking therapy with you! Why would you bring her here?!"

"Heather, just sit down. Alright, if I told you about this there's no way either of you would have done it."

_**"Yeah, no shit!"**_ Astrid and Heather briefly stopped when they said this in-sync, awkwardly trying not to make eye contact with each other as they both looked to Mala.

Already looking fatigued and fed up with them both, Mala pinched the bridge of her nose as she said "look, it's only an hour. Sixty minutes. Surely the pair of you can at least go that long without tearing each other apart."

Heather scoffed as she crossed her arms and sat back in her seat again. "I wouldn't be so sure about her."

_**"Oh fuck you, Heather!"**_

"Astrid, just sit down!" Mala pointed her arm to the seat that was on Heather's right, with the distance clearly being longer than arm's length just in case. The third seat, reserved for Mala, faced opposite these two right in the middle, obviously so Mala could possibly intervene if it was absolutely necessary.

Astrid tugged hard on a handful of her own hair and pressed her forearm over her mouth as she screamed into it, attempting to vent as much frustration as she possibly could before this was to happen. When she finished doing this, she sulked over to the seat on Heather's right and sat in it, crossing her legs and her arms as she muttered under breath. _"You gotta be fucking kidding me!"_

"Now then..." Mala has a fake smile on her face as she sat down on her own seat and got out two heavily used notepads. "Let's get started, shall we?"


	28. Collision

Mala cleared her throat again as she looked to Astrid's notebook from the previous session. "So admittedly I'm not expecting any miracles from this session, given your history of animosity, but I'm at least hoping that we can get the pair of you to come to some kind of understanding."

_"Well I think we understand that we don't like each other."_ Astrid had a brow raised as she said this, which prompted Heather to chuckle as she said "yeah, so uh... can I go now, or...?"

"Ha ha... nice try, but that's not what I meant." Mala turned to the next clean page of Astrid's notebook, briefly scribbling something into it as she thought about what to say. "So Astrid, why don't you share what we were talking about on the way in here?"

_"What do you mean?"_

"You said, and I quote... _I probably need to do something to stop myself from actually becoming what they're saying about me._ There, so... what exactly did you mean by that..."

Astrid sighed after a moment of hesitation, before pointing to Heather and saying _"does she have to hear this too? Cause... that kinda goes against the whole confidentiality thing, doesn't it?"_

Heather rolled her eyes as she said "if it's any consolation, I really couldn't care less..."

**_"Yeah you say that, but next thing I know, you're pasting this shit all over your stupid little Instagram page!"_** Astrid crossed her arms bitterly after that outburst. Mala was about to say something before Astrid cut in again. _"And I saw that picture you took with Hiccup... can't believe you'd sink that low..."_

"Sink that... oh my... ugh." Heather tugged on her own hair in frustration. "I didn't know about you guys, okay?! _No one_ knew you guys were together when we took that picture! I took that because I watched his vlogs! How hard is that to understand?!"

**_"Well I..."_** Astrid started to object, but shrugged after a moment of hesitation as she slumped back in the chair, silently conceding the point.

"You're fucking deluded if you really think I'd waste time doing that just to spite you. I mean... for Thor's sake, I have a boyfriend, Astrid! Why would I sink that low just for you?"

**_"Because you're a fucking bitch! Now I..."_**

"Let's try and mind the insults, Astrid." Mala pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously not happy that the session was already starting to escalate.

**_"Oh fuck off Mala! You're the one who baited me into this shit!"_**

"Yeah... feels shitty being baited into things, doesn't it, Astrid?" Heather's eyebrow was raised as she crossed her arms, which prompted Astrid to roll her eyes as she lazed back in her chair.

_"Because of course you're gonna bring this up..."_ she snarked. _"Look, if you're still mad about that fight, it's not nearly as big a deal as..."_

"**No!** Don't try and minimise that fucking little stunt you pulled on me! Or any of the other shit like the charity event!"

Mala's eyes widened a bit as she heard this. "Wait, hang on, what happened at the charity event?"

Astrid sighed as she said _"okay, I should probably explain this for context before she makes out to be the bad guy, but I was really pissed about what Johann was saying and she wasn't watching where she was going so..."_

"So she punched me in the boobs..."

**_"If you hadn't been showing them off in that slutty dress I probably..."_**

"Hey first of all, I like the way I look, and if I choose to show it off I fucking will! You have no right to shame me for what I wear and you're a bitch for doing it! And second of all, we're not even talking about that!"

_"I'd rather talk about that than listen to you whine about that first fight..."_

**"I made an olive branch to you that day, Astrid!"** She'd done a better job than Astrid had at staying calm, but now came the point where Heather just about lost her temper. **"That was our chance! A fucking chance to put all that shit about your uncle behind us!"**

She was trying not to cry as her face turned slightly red. **"But you fucked that up! You humiliated me and you spat in my family's face doing it!"**

_"I spat in your family's face? Ha! You were the one trying to brush it under the rug like it didn't even fucking happen! Your little fucking olive branch was just so you and your family could deflect all the hate!"_

**"Hate that we don't deserve and we never fucking did!"** Heather snapped back loud enough for Astrid to go silent, though she still crossed her arms and pretended to be uninterested, which only made Heather angrier.

"You really think my dad was _happy_ about what happened that day, Astrid? Of course not, he was haunted by it. **To his grave!** Ever since I took this job I've been bending over backwards trying my family out of **Fearless, Thieving, Fucking Finn's big fat shadow!**"

Mala sighed as she tried to reach over. "Heather, I think you've said eno..."

"But no. You couldn't let it slide, **could you?!**" Heather began prodding Astrid's chest with her finger, getting more and more aggressive with each poke. **"Because of your bullshit, we're never gonna move on! _Ever!_ You're all anyone _ever_ asks me about now! I'm more about you than I am about me, and I'm fucking sick and tired of it, Astrid!"**

Astrid took a moment to take in what Heather was saying, her tough exterior cracking a bit as she tried to make her comeback. _"Then why don't... um... ugh... why don't you actually do something about it instead of crying like a little bitch? Hmm?"_

"Because unlike you, I know there's better ways to solve my problems than bashing them over the head like a **psycho!**" Heather groaned as she sat back in the chair, seemingly hesitating about what she wanted to say next. About a minute of silence passed that allowed her to calm down a bit, before a small hint of a grin appeared on her lips. "And... and you know what I think?"

_"Well for what little I care, Heather, what **do** you think?"_

"I think that the reason you kept me in the dark about that fight was because you were scared I'd actually win. There, I said it." Heather crossed her arms with an almost smug tone as she glanced at a visibly worried Mala.

Astrid tried to hide her fury at this accusation with a strained chortle, saying _"me? Scared of you? You can't be serious."_

"Oh I'm serious. I'm dead serious. You thought I'd have a chance if I actually knew what was happening so you baited me first. I could have kicked your ass then just like I could do it now."

_"Oh please. If I did straight up tell you, I'd have beaten you worse since I wouldn't have been going easy on you. Wouldn't have broken a sweat."_

"I'd have broken a lot more than your nose, that's for sure." Heather's tone of voice implied that she was intentionally being provocative. "I'd do it on my own too... you know, just so your buddy Sven can't loophole your title back again..."

**_"Fuck you!"_** Astrid shot up in her chair and swung her fist towards Heather's face, but Heather anticipated this and managed to catch the punch with her hand. Astrid barely had time to react to this before she took a kneecap to her crotch and the wind was sent out of her lungs, freezing on the spot as she wheezed in a high-pitched tone. _**"F...f... FUCK!"**_

**"Oh for fuck's sake, Heather!"** Mala groaned as she came between them, letting Astrid collapse onto the floor almost in a fetal position. **"Five minutes?! You couldn't go five fucking minutes?!"**

Astrid was inhaling and exhaling rapidly and aggressively as she struggled to get back up, almost as badly as she'd been after her fight with the twins. Her breath eventually slowed back to normal as she used the chair to pull herself back up, slapping away Mala's hand as she tried to help her.

**_"Don't fucking touch me!"_** Astrid pulled herself to her feet, still wincing and exhaling heavily due to the blow. She glared at Mala as she brushed her messy hair out of her eyes and stumbled back a bit, eventually heading to the exit behind her. _"Don't ever fucking do this again."_

"Astrid, come back!" Mala groaned before Astrid slammed the door shut behind her. **"Astrid! Ugh! The pair of you are a fucking nightmare!"**

Heather watched as Mala stormed in the opposite direction into the main reception area, remaining in her chair as she looked where Astrid had gone. "Ugh... shit."

* * *

About a half-hour passed when Heather went out the back to where Toothless and Hookfang's enclosures were. Toothless was asleep at the front of the fence and Hookfang was swimming in the pond of his habitat, neither of them having any idea what had been happening inside the building.

She could see Astrid sitting on the bench in front of the fences, almost tiptoeing towards her as she softly cleared her throat. "Um... so, Mala is, uh... she's pretty mad about what happened in there... at both of us, cause, you know..."

_"Ugh..."_ Astrid used her forearm to wipe her reddened face. Heather knew she'd been crying, but rather than mention it she just decided to sit down on the bench next to her, keeping her distance just to be safe. _"What the fuck do you want?"_

"Nothing, just... whatever..." Heather ruffled the back of her own head as she thought about how to make her approach. The minute of silence almost felt like an hour for them both, before Heather finally spoke again. "Well... this really got out of hand, huh?"

_"You went for a total cheap shot then."_ Astrid's voice was calmer than in the session, but there was still a bit of bitterness in her tone. _"It's so cheap it'd be half price if you bought it in a dollar store! That's how cheap it was."_

Heather resisted the urge to laugh, but she kept smiling with a brow raised. "Okay, first off... you have no right to chastise me about cheap shots. Okay? Second... I didn't just mean in there, I meant... I meant everything that's happened."

"What?"

"You know? Like your uncle and stuff. Everything since then."

_"Oh... yeah. Right."_ Astrid was grinding her teeth as she thought about what to say, discreetly distancing herself even further from Heather on the bench. _"Admittedly, it's... it's probably my fault, or at least... more mine than yours."_

"Oh yeah, it's definitely your fault. No offence." Heather was clearly trying to lighten the mood with that remark, but it clearly hadn't been successful.

"But the thing is, even before that fight we probably should have handled this whole thing differently. I mean I'm... I'm still really fucking mad at you for ruining that peace offering, Astrid, but... I guess I really should have just talked to you about it, properly... you know, back when he actually..."

_"Yeah. Yeah, I know..."_ Astrid sighed as the silence came back between them, before grinning a bit as she spoke again. _"I probably wouldn't have hated you as much back then either."_

"Ha-ha... yeah. Funny, isn't it? When you look back on things and... and all you think about is how you should have done it differently."

_"Uh-huh... that's life, I guess.__" _Astrid rubbed the back of her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose. _"Just a long, shitty cycle of mistakes and regretting them."_

"Yep. I guess so." Heather put her fingers to her eye and exhaled, putting her forearm over her forehead as she looked at the sky for a few moments. "Well... I dunno about you, but I could definitely do with some alcohol right now."

Heather stood up to leave, but stopped in her tracks as she thought about saying something else. She stayed here for about ten seconds, internally arguing with herself as she turned back to face Astrid. "You wanna come with? My treat?"

Astrid couldn't resist getting aggressive again as she snapped, kneeling on the bench as she turned around to face Heather. **_"Oh yeah, like I'm gonna let you do that. If you think buying me a drink is gonna give you some kind of fucking high ground over me, Heather, then you're..."_**

**"Fine!"** Heather clearly wasn't in the mood to argue anymore, and neither was Astrid for that matter. "Ugh, just... okay, so we'll both buy our own drinks and just... drink them together. Hmm? Fair compromise?"

Astrid took a second to answer as she rubbed the back of her neck, eventually sighing in annoyance. _"Okay, fine. Whatever."_


End file.
